Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 14 May 2019

Committee on Budgetary Oversight

Annual Budget Disability Proofing: Disability Federation of Ireland

Ms Fiona O'Donovan:

I will add a supplementary point from a budgetary perspective and bang for one's buck. I totally understand that the committee is coming at this from a budgetary oversight perspective and cannot, at this point, talk about how the budget needs to be spent. However, the committee members can ask the questions and set the indicators that can highlight an issue.

One approach is to link personal assistance to housing. I will not go through the social housing allocation process but one applies and qualifies, followed by the allocation process. People with disabilities can be blocked from taking a social housing allocation after years spent on the social housing waiting lists. They may be blocked on the basis that they cannot get PA hours. There needs to be a synch-up to ensure these things are happening in a timely fashion. The committee can ask questions that go to the heart of that such as asking how many people are in receipt of PA and how many have had delays in taking up social housing due to the lack of community-based services. There are questions which can be asked to inform.