Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I hope I can read my own writing when asking these questions. This is an interesting topic and one with which we need to get to grips. I thank Mr. O’Regan, Ms Farrelly and their teams for attending and trying to tease out the various issues.

Mr. O’Regan spoke about housing needs in local communities and how we needed to provide supports to meet the health and social care needs of disabled people. In my experience in Kildare, Kare and the Muiríosa Foundation are doing a good job in putting in place community housing, but there are blockages to inclusion. Mr. O’Regan referred to a consideration of the new local area co-ordination model and to how there were steering groups in place. I would have expected this piece to fall under the LCDC part the local authority. We need to get it right. I have direct experience of people who, many years after moving into this housing in an area, want to work and become part of their communities. There is much to do in this regard. I acknowledge all of the good work that has been done in moving people out of congregated settings into community housing, but I am concerned about those who have not even got to live in congregated settings and whose families cannot cope or whose parents are elderly. It is a question of trying to find a balance between what local authorities can do. What I have increasingly found is that disability agencies and the Department are telling people to join their local authority housing lists. Families then feel that, once someone has been accepted onto a list, their problems are over and the local authority will provide a physical space and, in conjunction with the HSE, meet their family members’ needs, but that is not happening. This is a concern. I am interested in the witnesses’ views on this matter.

Ms Farrelly spoke about the four areas that were covered. Does addiction fall under mental health? It is a matter we need to deal with in this regard. We cannot ignore it. From particular areas that I represent, I know of certain issues.

I thank the witnesses for supplying us with the case studies in Galway, Meath and Wexford. They are important. Are those the best local authorities in terms of delivery? Is best practice being shared around? We need to know who is and is not doing well.

I agree on the need for extra Exchequer funding for mobility and housing aids and the housing adaptation grant. We want people to continue living in their own homes as autonomously as possible.

My final questions are on the housing targets for people with disabilities. How are they defined? Is it as a percentage of population within a local authority’s area? How is progress reported? Are targets being met by each local authority? Are there barriers to collaboration with the HSE? If so, we need to know what they are. I appreciate that a mapping exercise will be done. When will we see it? It would be important if the committee got that information. In terms of local demand, and apart from setting targets, how are local authorities identifying disabled people in their areas? Is it done through agencies such as Kare and the Muiríosa Foundation? There are people in each area who are not linked in with their local providers. How do we define the choice that is being offered and how is that documented?