Mr. Pat Fitzpatrick:

As the Senator may know, we chair the national implementation steering group for the national housing strategy for disabled people. That is with a number of partners, NGOs and everybody involved in that space. Regarding our role, there are a significant number of actions, and much of that is with the sector to try to improve, first of all, information about access to supports.

Second, regarding the gathering of information, the Senator asked how we know what proportion of housing is being allocated. There are certain difficulties related to gathering numbers. On the social housing side, we do surveys every year with the local authorities in terms of allocations and households. The Senator will appreciate that households may consist of one person. It may be a single-person household with a disability or a single person with multiple disabilities, so categorising those can be a challenge. In respect of the overall numbers, the latest figures we have are from 2023 or 2024. Figures are due out shortly. Of the 13,625 allocations, 2,366 were allocated to households categorised under the local authority system as having a disability, which is about 17.3% of the overall allocation. There is probably hidden activity going on at the local authority level that is not promoted, and that is part of the strategy as well. That families are being allocated housing is highlighted. It is not necessarily being reported as disability housing or any other type of housing; it is an allocation. Our mandate is to try to get better numbers on that over the next years. We have just reviewed the implementation plan and part of that is to try to disaggregate those numbers even more. I hope that helps.