Mr. Paul Lemass:

In the context of bungalows, this is very much driven by the need at local level. Each local authority adopts an allocations policy. They are required to do so under existing housing legislation. That allocations policy can have regard to specific needs of different cohorts. In the scheme for social housing assessment we capture information on a range of disabilities, be they physical, sensory, mental or intellectual, and we track the movements in the numbers on that list. There are significant decreases in the numbers on the list and significant numbers of people with disabilities are moving off the list and getting allocated houses. Off the top of my head, the number on the list is approximately 4,500 out of a total of 68,000 and I believe the number allocated in the last year to people with disabilities was approximately 1,500. Local authorities have regard for people with disabilities.