Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in. I work in construction and have worked in that sector all of my life. I have seen first-hand the building of houses for people with disabilities and how the regulations and planning process have changed throughout the years.

The implementation of the planning regulations is being enforced to a greater extent in the counties than in the cities. In a county, when one is building a house, if it is a one-off house or a housing estate, the tendency is to build a bigger house in any event. These include bigger bathrooms. All of the doors have 1 m spaces for access into the house. Work is done on the stairs and the landing. The work is being done not only for people with disabilities but also for people who are getting older in life and will need help in any event.

I have seen the changes. When I go into a city, I see that every inch is being availed of. There is no inclusion for people with disabilities. I am lucky to live in Granagh, near St. Joseph’s Foundation, where people with and without disabilities are catered for. I can see what can be achieved when people with disabilities are integrated into the community. People with disabilities should not be put in a corner but should be integrated into the community because of what they can offer to us and we can offer to them.

From a building perspective, people came to me and said they wanted to build properties for people with special needs. They contacted the local authority to say they had serviced sites, with wheelchair-accessible footpaths, to build on. These sites were on bus routes and had everything within the area. The local authority told these people that it had nobody on the list for a house that was designed for people with disabilities. That shocked and surprised me. If I had not heard this information first-hand, I would not have believed it.

With the ageing community we have now, all houses should be adapted on the ground floor for disability living, regardless of whether those living in them have a disability at present. There should be a wet room downstairs and everything should be focused on disability. This involves increasing the door width from 900 mm to 1 m. That will accommodate door access into any house. If one uses a stairs but wants to use a stairlift, one has to allow a further 100 mm for the stairlift to work. If a person needs a carer, the carer could live upstairs, the person in need of care could live downstairs and they could cohabit. No forward-thinking is being done for the sake of a couple of inches in a living area for the likes of this. No family in this country knows whether tomorrow morning, someone in the family - even a child - will have an accident.

When builders are building a house in a rural area, they build a sitting room downstairs and ensure it is accessible to a bathroom in case there ever has to be a changeover, for example if someone has an accident and is confined to living downstairs, or if an elderly parent wants to live with the family. People who are building their own houses put in all of these adaptions because they can see what may be required, but our local authorities do not. The Government through its legislation does not cover this. As a building contractor, I cannot understand this. It is only a matter of widening the door by 100 mm and increasing a bathroom downstairs. If you have a 1,000 sq. ft house, it just means you are making one room slightly smaller. I am 100% behind anything that promotes adaptions to all houses. I do not think it should be 10%; I think all houses should be adapted because at least then you are adapting for the future. That means you do not have to put 10% aside because you will have 100%. Everyone should be obliged to adapt their house.

From the Chairman’s own electrical background, he will be aware that the regulations for switches in houses have changed.

They are down at a certain level. Those type of things have changed. Why can we not move small pieces that will make every house adaptable? Whether it is a one-storey or a two-storey building, it does not matter. You just make a small amendment. That might mean you do not even have to change the square footage but only to move a wall 4 in. or 5 in. or 100 mm to make the regulations easier for anyone. That does not only work for people with disabilities but also for our ageing population and for everyone. I commend everything the witnesses are doing. I will be with them 100%. If they have a list of people looking for them in Limerick, please contact me and I will work to help in any way I can. People come to me who want their house adapted for people. I want them integrated into the community because no one should be left outside, no matter what. Everyone should be integrated and work with each other. I am happy that the people I am involved with are integrated with us. It is fantastic.