Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We have had two days of very informative engagement on this issue. I know that there is a different policy in each country on the allocation of funding. In my county it is done on the basis of time. The local authority receives the allocation and then advertises. There is a closing date and the money is then allocated. I think Senator Murnane O'Connor might have referred to the fact that sometimes some of the money was not spent but then became available towards the end of the year. I often question the timing and the fact that there is a closing date. What has happened on a number of occasions in my county is that there has been no funding available for people who are probably more deserving but who apply later in the year. Sometimes I question the model, whereby if one does not spend the money, one will lose it. Sometimes when a closing date is advertised, people who apply for grants probably do not need them, but they eat into the resources that might be required later in the year by people who are more deserving of them. Having a rolling fund available should be looked at, as opposed to advertising a specific closing date.

My next point concerns the State not being in a position to deal with everybody with disabilities. We all know that we do not have the stock of housing required. I hope we will have the right level of stock in the future. Are there incentives to persuade landlords to adapt their properties for use by people with disabilities?