Committee Reports > List of Committees > Dáil > 1980 > Committee of Public Accounts > Report - Appropriation Accounts 1978

APPENDIX 10

ABORTIVE HOUSING INSPECTION CALLS AND GRANTS FOR HOMES FOR STRAY DOGS AND CATS

1st July 1980

Mr. S. Phelan

Clerk to the Committee of Public Accounts

Kildare house

Kildare street

Dublin 2

Dear Mr. Phelan

During my examination by the Committee of Public Accounts I undertook to provide notes on two matters, namely:

—abortive calls by the housing inspectorate; and

—grants in respect of homes for stray cats and dogs.

Please find enclosed notes for the information of the Committee on both topics.

Yours sincerely

G A MEAGHER

Accounting Officer

Department of the Environment

Abortive Calls by Housing Inspectorate

1. £1,000 New House Grant Scheme

One of the conditions of payment of this grant is that the applicant must occupy the dwelling, on completion, as his place of normal residence on a year round basis (i.e. not a holiday house or second dwelling). The purposes of this condition are to ensure that the grants are paid to persons who buy or build a house for their own occupation and not paid to persons who buy or build new houses for letting as an investment. Such letting is commonplace and the Department’s Inspectors report regularly that they found the house to be let or occupied by persons other than the applicant. Grants are not, of course, paid in such cases. For this reason it could thwart proper enforcement of the occupancy condition if all new house grant applicants were advised beforehand of an impending call by an Inspector.

Every effort is, however, made to facilitate genuine requests (e.g. married couples who are both out working during the day) for an appointment in advance. It should also be noted that inspection of new houses under the structural guarantee scheme is done by special arrangement with builders.

2. House Improvement Grants

All applicants for these grants were required to give their telephone number to facilitate the Inspector who may wish to contact them when an appointment is requested. Inspectors normally have 3-4 weeks work on hands i.e. over 100 files. Some Inspectors may have considerably more files on hands particularly in recent times. The Inspectors are therefore able to arrange economic itineraries which facilitate the carrying out of other inspections when an abortive call is made. The fact that an Inspector may fail to gain access to a house may not therefore give rise to any additional travelling costs or expense. In cases of abortive calls the Inspector is instructed to leave a card (copy attached) in the house telling the applicant that the Inspector was unable to gain admission and that he would call again when next in the area. The applicant will then be notified a few days in advance of the date of the next inspection. If advance appointments were made in every case, a loss of output would result, since flexibility in arranging and carrying out inspections would be lost and the extra clerical work in arranging appointments would mean less time for actual inspections.

The situation regarding housing grant inspections is not similar to the cattle testing scheme of the Department of Agriculture. Obviously when cattle are being tested, the farmer must be notified in advance so that he can make the necessary advance arrangements of getting cattle together etc. The volume of individual cases handled by Housing Inspectors is much greater.

When this matter was raised last year by the Public Accounts Committee instructions were given to all staff of the Department to avoid abortive visits by implementing certain procedures laid down. These procedures continue to operate and everything feasible is being done to keep abortive calls to an absolute minimum.

It should also be noted that, in cases, the applicants do not keep appointments made by Inspectors and abortive visits arise despite the Department’s best efforts.

Facsimile of card left by housing inspector in cases of abortive calls.

HOUSING ACT, 1966

S.L.46

An Inspector from the Department of the Environment called to-day to inspect your house in connection with your application for a housing grant, but he was unable to gain admission.

An Inspector will call again to the house when next in the area. You will be notified a few days in advance of the date of the next inspection.

129193. 10,000. 6-79. M.T.—G.20.

Subhead Q 10—Grants in respect of homes or shelters for stray or unwanted dogs or cats

Under section 14 of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963 planning authorities may assist a body or person in the provision of homes or shelters for stray or unwanted dogs or cats. The assistance may be by way of money or kind or by the provision of services and facilities (including the services of staff). The giving of such assistance is a function reserved to the elected members of the planning authority.

The Minister for the Environment had a Circular Letter (ref. ENV 7/78) issued on 30th March, 1978 which notified the grants scheme to planning authorities. Under the scheme grants are paid to planning authorities of 50% of expenditure on approved projects of assistance. Payments are made on the appropriate certification by the planning authority that the expenditure has been properly incurred for the purposes authorised.

The Department has an arrangement with the Irish Society for the Prevention to Cruelty to Animals under which the Society provides an advisory service in connection with the operation of the scheme with the object of ensuring that measures are coordinated and that appropriate standards are observed in the provision and operation of facilities. Planning authorities have been urged to obtain the views of the Society when considering the problems caused by stray dogs and cats in their area and to forward them to the Department with their submission for grant aid.

A consultancy fee is paid to the Society in recognition of its services. The annual rate of this fee was increased from £8,000 in 1978 to £13,000 in 1979.

The amount provided originally for the grant scheme in the Department’s estimate for 1978 was £110,000 but later in the year a saving of £85,000 was conceded in a supplementary estimate leaving the voted provision at £25,000. Total expenditure from the subhead in that year was £19,170.

In 1979 the sum of £60,000 was included for the grants scheme in the original estimate but this was subsequently reduced to £40,000. Total expenditure in 1979 was £38,348, almost exactly double the figure for 1978.

A list of the payments made from the subhead in 1978 and 1979 is attached.

The sum of £60,000 is provided for the scheme in the Department’s Estimate for 1980.

Since the commencement of the scheme no grants have been paid towards the cost of assistance by planning authorities in the provision of new shelters. However, it is understood from the ISPCA that they expect that at least three planning authorities will submit proposals for grant aid in respect of the provision of new shelters in 1980.

STRAY DOGS AND CATS.

Scheme of Grants 1978

Allocation: £110,000

Total Expenditure for 1978 (including £6,000 consultancy fee payments to ISPCA up to 31/12/78) was £19,170.

Scheme of Grants 1979.

Allocation: £60,000

Total Expenditure for 1979 (including consultancy fee of £13,000 to ISPCA) was £38,348.

Payments of grants in both years have been in respect of contributions by local authorities to local branches and to the central body of the ISPCA for the maintenance of existing Shelters. Expenditure by Dublin County Council in 1979 includes a payment of a grant of £2,000 to the Animal Sanctuary of Ireland.