Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for her questions and will try to answer all three points. I am glad she raised the first issue because it has been brought to my attention that house calls are not happening in some local authority areas. That should not be the case. Adaptation work is deemed to be essential work and the workers carrying it out are essential workers. It goes without saying that it should always be done with the permission of the residents. We have provided additional funding this year in the area of housing adaptation grants and what was known before as the disabled persons grant, DPG. It is not acceptable for local authorities to say that they are not carrying out inspections. It is really important that they are undertaken, particularly given that a lot of the adaptations are for health reasons. Adaptations mean that people getting out of hospital will not need to go into step-down care and can go straight back home. The Deputy's intervention on this matter follows other feedback I have had in the past few days, in consequence of which I am writing to the chief executives of all the local authorities. This issue is arising in some but not all of them. Where they have concerns, they can engage with us. This is essential work and it needs to be carried out. The Covid restrictions do not prevent it provided the recognised safety measures are taken.

I take the Deputy' point in regard to Carlow County Council. I knew there was no way I would come here today without Carlow being mentioned. Maybe one day it will happen that there is no mention of it, but I doubt it. In regard to the qualification threshold, the previous Government commissioned a report on the whole area of social housing and what reforms are needed. This was something I had also sought. Thresholds need to be looked at and I will do so. The report is there and I will implement its recommendations in this regard.