Ms Siobhán Barron:

I will start with the key demands because I think they cover a lot of the points that have been raised. Some of the issues we see relate to housing planning. I refer for example to decisions on the site of very small apartments. One would question whether they would be habitable by many persons with disabilities given their different needs. That applies particularly to persons with wheelchairs, but also concerns the wider needs of others. We have always advised that there should be a universal design approach to that. We have submitted guidance on how to approach it and we feel that it would make a significant difference if it could be addressed in the future because many large developments are being planned and invested in. We gave the example of the approach taken by one local authority which set a target for the number of universal design homes. As the Deputy noted, they can be designed in such a way that they can be easily and very cost-effectively adapted over time. We are hearing from at least one local authority area that by effective design, a standard 100 sq. m three-bedroom house can be a really accessible home. It does not represent a huge extra cost. We also hear anecdotally that the cost of developing a universal design home is about €4,500 more than the cost of an average home. We are going to carry out a cost-benefit analysis exercise, but that is the information we are hearing anecdotally. The long-term savings that can be derived from that by avoiding expensive relocation, alternative types of residential care and future retrofitting would very easily meet the increase in cost.

As the Deputy stated, a revision of Part M is urgently required and could provide the basis for making a lot of these requirements mandatory. There are potential ways to incentivise the market, particularly developers. Perhaps there could be a VAT measure to encourage more universal design developments. As pointed out earlier, the plans coming forward are sometimes already so advanced that it is difficult to row back.

We believe that a lot could be done through disability impact assessments of rules, regulations, policies and programmes. For example, we hear about cases where people have gone for affordable housing and taken out the loan, supported by the local authority, before acquiring a disability later in life. They find that the clawback provision prevents them from moving to alternative accommodation. Disability-proofing would involve looking at the rules in black and white and realising that they have a discriminatory effect on some people.

Promoting and enforcing a universal design approach is about the sustainability of communities. It allows people to live within a community rather than an area where a group of homes for persons with disabilities or older persons is clustered together. Universal design provides for that integrated approach. It allows older persons to stay in their homes for longer instead of going into nursing care. There are interesting examples of this. We operated a joint project with the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, namely, the homes for smart ageing universal design challenge. The winning project looked at how an older person could remain living in a three-bedroom house, close to neighbours, services and facilities, by converting the upstairs area to a separate apartment. This could accommodate somebody who needs housing while providing an opportunity for company, a bit of security and better use of accommodation. The winning solution went on to be progressed and the Department is now funding five further projects on that. There are lots of practical things we can do, but rather than big projects it is about rolling this approach out as some kind of national programme.

In the transport sector there are good examples of persons with disabilities on boards. However it is important that there are effective means of engaging with persons with disabilities in design and planning. There are housing and disability steering committees in each local authority. We must consider how they could be more effective in their engagement, the action plans they devise and the targets in those plans. I refer also to cross-agency work. National strategies are in place but cross-departmental work must happen. In the past, each Department had a sectoral plan outlining how it would progress issues for people with disabilities, inclusion, accessibility matters and other issues. Within those plans Departments were obliged to outline how they would work collaboratively with other Departments and agencies on particular issues. There are many ways to progress housing accessibility in that way.