Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The delegates are very welcome. I thank them for coming here this morning.

I have a couple of questions. In the documentation provided, it is noted that there has been a 30% decrease in the number of persons with disabilities living in congregated settings. Have the delegates information as to where those people have gone? I have received hundreds of representations in the six months since my election from, for example, people in their 70s or 80s who have had an adult son or daughter returned to them following the sudden closure of a residential setting. They go into crisis. Some have ended up in this situation. I note 27% of persons with disabilities are homeless. They are on the streets. Has HIQA or any agency mapped where the affected citizens have gone?

There is a timeline of seven years referred to in the Time to Move on from Congregated Settings strategy. I refer to moving out of residential settings. My adult son is on a social housing list for accessible and supported housing. I am told that the waiting list in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown is 18 years, or possibly 19 years. There is a broader housing crisis. Do the delegates believe the time horizon is realistic? Is it an honest assessment of the wider crisis in housing?

My third question relates to the fact that we have an unprecedented crisis in housing. The objective under Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is to integrate people into the community. Realistically, however, the housing units do not exist for the thousands of people who remain in congregated settings. In that context, as envisaged in the legislation on the temporary eviction ban that the Houses are considering, should we temporarily halt the closure of residential settings unless there is a viable, safe alternative for the people? Have the delegates a view on that? It is probably not within their remit but they might have a view on it having conducted the research and survey.

In respect of those who live within the community, during the severe weather event called the Beast from the East, I was contacted by several people living in supported environments. One of them, a wheelchair user, told me that on the Tuesday of that week, the Government had issued a series of warnings advising citizens to stay indoors. Their care team told them they would be unable to return to them for at least 72 hours.

That person, the wheelchair user, was given the option of sitting in his wheelchair for 72 hours and soiling himself in that position or lying on the bed with food within reach, and soiling himself there.

I wrote about that case at the time and asked the HSE several times if it had a plan for people living in the community during severe weather events or other disruptions to ensure safety and continuity of care. There is no plan. Are we living up to our requirements under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD, and its stated aspiration that people be allowed to live in the community? The elephant in the room is that those alternatives do not exist at the moment and will not until we resolve the housing crisis, which may take a number of years.