Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their contributions. We have had a lot of disability groups before the committee. From speaking to disabled persons organisations, DPOs, it appears that Ireland is not a good place to ask people with disabilities for their views. To fully implement the UNCRPD, there is a need for effective policy-making forums to be established to collaborate with people with disabilities and develop and implement effective policies locally and nationally.

Can the CCMA and HSE highlight how they are consulting DPOs? Our experience in the committee is that DPOs do not feel they have been listened to, especially single people who are advocating on behalf of those with disabilities. They do not feel they are being engaged with enough. How are local authorities identifying disabled people in their local areas who need housing? What is the mechanism? How are their needs being documented and provision made for them?

I have experience of medical applications. How are they being addressed? Who examines them? What qualifications do they have? Dublin City Council uses three GPs to make a judgment as to whether a medical priority should be applied. Do all local authorities follow a similar rule? I do not always feel that we get the best results with the GPs when making assessments.

When people are prioritised by local authorities, the period for which they have to wait for a place is terrible. Some are waiting for years while others are fast forwarded. I am curious about how this is being addressed because my experience has been mainly with Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council which take a long time to deal with cases.

I would love to know what actions are taken in respect of local authorities. The recommendation is that people with disabilities are allocated a percentage of each development that is completed. How is that proposal being implemented? Is it happening in respect of houses or apartments?

I refer to overcrowding. A lot of people are looking for extensions to houses for people with disabilities. They want to build a room, toilet or other such things. That system seems to have collapsed. Certainly it has collapsed in Dublin City Council. Nothing is happening. A lot of these building works are for people who have serious disabilities. Is the same happening across the board in local authorities? Does every local authority have a disability technical adviser or co-ordinator? I assume they do.

We all want to see people with disabilities living in their homes with all of the necessary supports. Are all the stops pulled out to do that? There are people who are elderly or disabled and want to stay in their homes. I am a great believer in keeping people in their communities. How are such cases followed up with local authorities?