Ms Caroline Timmons:

I will first address Deputy Darragh O'Brien's questions, the first of which was whether the housing and disability steering groups, HDSGs, were functioning. This may have been said earlier but it was the formation of the groups in the first place that was an important event. There are always improvements that can be made. There are 31 HDSGs and it is probable that they are not all operating in exactly the same manner. That has possibly been a challenge that we need to address and we are addressing it. The Housing Agency has been given the task of reviewing the functioning of those particular groups and it is doing that. It is doing some very good work on drawing up new terms of reference for the HDSGs to ensure they are all working in the same way and standardise how they function. It is also looking at the targets the steering groups are setting in their strategic plans and making sure they are working in the manner they are supposed to, for example, that they meet four times a year and that the four disability sectors are represented on the committee.

On the question as to whether the HDSGs are functioning, I would say "Yes" but there are improvements that can always be made and we are aware of that and trying to make that happen. The housing subgroup will continue to examine that and to ensure that those improve as time moves on. As the steering groups embed further into the system, they will naturally function a little better.

The Deputy also asked if we are capturing the need. This is a good question. Every year, we capture through the summary of social housing assessment who is on the waiting list. The Deputy made a point about emerging needs and we need to be conscious of this. Members will be aware that a housing strategy is developed within the development plan cycle. That cycle will soon start in each of the local authorities. As part of that strategy, it is important that the local authorities do a housing need and demand assessment in which they consider the vulnerable sectors that will need to be accommodated, as well as demographics and who may need housing in the future. Their future projections must be done in a way that accommodates and takes account of many elements, of which disability is one. I am keen that this would happen. We are looking at the housing need and demand assessment in the Department right now. It is one of the objectives under the national planning framework, NPF, and we are keen to work on how we can improve the data we feed into how we do our projections and what we get out of those data for local authorities to inform their plans.

The Department of Health has stated that part of its action plan for 2019 will be to establish future social care needs for people with a disability. We need for this to translate into some information for us in the context of housing which we can feed back into local authorities. The Deputy is right that this is an area we need to be able to cover and do better in the future. While it is not all about the list, the list is very important in providing information on who needs housing today. Both need to function together to form a picture for the local authority.

Deputy O'Brien also asked about adaptation grants. I will pass that query on to my colleague. I will address Senator Dolan's point.