HC Deb 26 April 1984 vol 58 cc873-4
12. Mrs. Jill Knight

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will take urgent steps to end the misappropriation of public money through the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

Mr. Chris Patten

These are serious allegations and I do not accept the implied criticism of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive's procedures. If my hon. Friend has specific evidence of the misappropriation of public funds it should be passed immediately to the police for investigation.

Mrs. Knight

I thank my hon. Friend for his reply. Does he not consider that it is unacceptable that the British taxpayer, through the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, should be funding the purchase of bombs and guns used to attack British taxpayers? Is he aware that there is widespread abuse of tax certificates within the Housing Executive, that there are protection rackets and all sorts of illegal money-raising activities, with the knowledge of the Housing Executive, if not its connivance? What does the Department intend to do about that?

Mr. Patten

One does not need to exaggerate the scale of the problem to accept that it is extremely worrying. I am as pleased, as I am sure my hon. Friend is, by the recent success of the Royal Ulster Constabulary's anti-racketeering squad. I intend to discuss next week with the Northern Ireland construction industry advisory council further measures to limit the scale of abuse of public funds. We recognise the concern of the House and we shall do what we can to limit that abuse.

Mr. McCusker

The Minister need go no further than the former chairman of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, who said on television a few weeks ago that he had no alternative but to build houses in areas where he knew there would be massive fraudulent abuse by the IRA and where rents would not be paid. He accepted that the allocation of those houses would not even be in the hands of his administrators.

Mr. Patten

The important point is that most of the abuses that have been mentioned, such as those raised in a recent television programme, concern subcontracting. That raises issues that are not entirely for the Housing Executive to deal with. The hon. Gentleman will know that the Northern Ireland Housing Executive was required to review its contract procedures not long ago. It introduced all the changes that were recommended, but there are further things that we may be able to do to clean up the construction industry.

Mr. Peter Robinson

Will the Minister take the trouble to contact the chairman of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive for the details of a contract recently awarded to a west Belfast man who has no experience of building work and no building premises, who uses a public telephone box for his business telephone number, lives in Housing Executive accommodation and is in rent arrears and on supplementary benefit?

Mr. Patten

Yes, Sir.