Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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64. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if his attention has been drawn to delays in some Dublin authorities in processing applications for the restart grant; and if steps can be taken to rectify this. [17535/20]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The numbers of applications processed varies between Local Authorities. Delays in processing can occur for a variety of reasons such as lack of relevant information provided by applicants, further information being sought from applicants, applications made in respect of properties not relevant to a particular Local Authority, adjustments necessarily being made to software systems to match the appropriate Scheme criteria and the sheer volume of applications which has generated considerable work for the teams handling the scheme.

One particular Dublin local authority, South Dublin County Council, experienced software problems which led to grant applications being incorrectly rejected. I understand that the technical problem has been solved now and that the council staff are actively working with affected applicants to process their applications.

The processing data currently available to my officials does not indicate processing delays in the three other Dublin local authorities. However, this is carefully monitored to ensure that any emerging problems are addressed as soon as possible.