Ms AnnMarie Farrelly:

In terms of having the expertise within local authorities, the Department would like us all to employ a disabled technical adviser. Many of us have access officers. The advice generally can be available in-house. We are getting better at designing our schemes, whether it be public realm, playgrounds or indeed housing. We are proofing our strategies to make sure they are fit for purpose. There has been much improvement in that area in recent years, with more to come.

With regard to universal access, the sector agrees that if all our future units had universal access to a large extent we may not have to come before the committee again. At this stage we are not in a position to offer that. We need the Department's sanction for that. However, it is good news there is a pilot under way and that the findings to date show that the cost deferential is not too great. There is more work to be done in that area.

We have had a good local relationship with the HSE and other stakeholders for many years. The fact that it is now driven nationally and regionally, starting with the national implementation steering group right down through the various tiers of inter-agency co-operation, is helpful because it gives the confidence to the local actors to get the job done. Good work is happening. It is not easy to source suitable properties for CAS. It can cause a time delay. Local authorities take on responsibility there where we typically signpost approved housing bodies, AHBs, and charities to suitable properties to benefit from CAS.

The biggest complaint we get is that they would like a bigger allocation forCAS but Mr. Hanrahan will come in with more detail in that area.