Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome all the witnesses. It is great to see Mr. Dolan back in the Houses. I fully support universal design. I was a director of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind for many years. One thing that struck me was that there are a number of issues in terms of disabilities and there are many forms of disability. There was always an issue with colleagues having wheelchair users coming to see them and not being able to see them. There are also issues with the inappropriate design of accommodation. One client told me that his day room or living room had no window. He was told he was blind so it would not affect him. What a ridiculous thing to say. He developed eczema and other conditions because of the lack of light and ventilation. We have come a long way from that. His dog was expected to live in the same circumstances and it also developed eczema and stress-related issues because of lack of ventilation and light.

A very high percentage of people with disabilities are unemployed. That is through no fault of their own because many of them have great skills.

They cannot get work and they are spending a lot more time at home or, invariably, in libraries or anywhere they can get access to. It is still not easy to get access in many public spaces. Home is critical to us all. Mr. Dolan talked about home and our place. It is our safe space. However, when one has a disability and one is unemployed, home is particularly important. Therefore I fully support universal design.

I am currently building a house and I did not find there was any engagement or proactive approach from my planning authority about universal design. It disappointed me but, mind you, I did not find they were involved in issues such as retention of rain water or harvesting off the roof, which I myself put in. Many planning authorities are not proactive. They might have a commitment to policy but they are not proactive about it. They do not engage, and I have checked this with other people.

I suppose there are two or three issues the witnesses might share their views on. We had a meeting with our own local authority, which is Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, on Friday, with all the local Oireachtas Members. We were told about the steering groups and that these were critically important in each of the 31 authorities. Our guests might share with me their experience in how they are interfacing with that. Usually directors of housing, I would say, would chair those groups.

On the issue of how we quantify, do we know really what the quantity is? Mr. Dolan, in his submission, referred to a number a little over 5,000 people on social housing. Do we have a definitive number there that we can validate in terms of the number of individuals or family units that require housing for people with disabilities? That is something we must keep the focus on.

On Part V, the best way to make this intervention is at the planning stage where one is sitting down in preplanning and bringing in developers to set out their preplanning schemes, particularly in ground-floor apartment units. These are ideal if they are developed into the design. One maybe has more flexible balconies so that one can access the building without coming through the main building, and also access to the garden. Gardens and open spaces are critically important if one has a disability and is on-site much of the time.

There is something important I want to talk to Dr. Hartney about. In terms of the public authorities' and State agencies' responsibility and obligations under the European accessibility Act, under the Code of Practice on Accessibility of Public Services, information proved to public bodies and disability impact assessments, the State is obliged under Public Sector Duty and Our Public Service 2020. These are key issues that Dr. Hartney touched on in her submission, although not in any great detail because of time. She, or, for that matter, anybody else, might touch on that.

The issue of congregated settings is one we have talked about for years. We have many young people with disabilities - Mr. Dolan summed it up well - who are effectively in nursing homes. It is a crazy situation. How is that progressing? Much work and planning was meant to be done on emptying out congregated settings. I am familiar with some of the attempts by the Cheshire Homes with its clients. How is that going, where would they like to see that going or where would they like to see that ramped up?

Those are some issues they might touch on. Dr. Hartney might kick-off and then, maybe, Mr. Dolan and anybody else.