Discrepancy delays Italy earthquake payouts

About 100,000 people from the earthquake-stricken city of L'Aquila, in central Italy, have applied for a grant from the authorities to rebuild their homes. However, the local authority's chief executive has noted an "incongruity": there appear to be only 70,000 ­people registered as living in and around the city.

Massimiliano Cordeschi has told the state-run RAI radio broadcaster that the discrepancy is likely to hold up the ­compensation payouts. Today the Senate cleared the way, for the disbursement in stages, of 100% of the cost of reconstructing or repairing homes damaged by the earthquake on 6  April, which killed almost 300 people. But, stressed Cordeschi, "a minimum of quick checks" had to be made.

He added: "On the register there are X  number of citizens and the applications reveal Y number of people over and above X. We have to find out where they come from."

Cordeschi said he estimated that the cost of an extra 30,000 grants would be about €2.4m (£2.1m) a month.

One possible explanation for the inconsistency was that people who moved away from L'Aquila to live in Rome and elsewhere had failed to change their official residence and were trying to tap in to taxpayer money for the repair of what were, in effect, second homes. People without an official address could account for a further discrepancy.

But neither explanation would explain why so many people were getting state aid as earthquake victims.