Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the response. I have had all of that information for over a month, both in replies to parliamentary questions and from the HSE locally, so there is nothing new in what she said to me here today. It is very disappointing that the HSE has asked the Minister of State to present the results of the survey in the way in which it did. Not all surveys will be submitted to the local authority because the occupational therapist report is to determine whether somebody has an adaptation grant need. In some cases the occupational therapist's report will say they do not, therefore, a report will not be submitted where it is not supporting the requirement.

The other point I would make, and the Minister will know this well from her own local authority area, is that the waiting time once someone gets on the list for the adaptation grant can be two years. That is not the direct responsibility of the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, in her current role but the reason is because the local authority adaptation grants have been slashed in the past six years, something which the Minister of State would have supported in her support for Fine Gael's budgets over that period. There will be a small take-up within six months of receiving the OT's report but the idea that those two statistics suggest that this is not an appropriate use of HSE staff time is appalling when we consider the level of disability and limited mobility these people have in their own homes.

I presume the Minister of State will not be able to reply to my last question other than repeating what she has said but she said that resources will be provided. When will they be provided? When will the 130 families who urgently need occupational therapy reports have the occupational therapist in their house assessing the level of need? When will they have the reports that can be submitted to the council? Every month in which there is a delay in that resource being provided means a further delay before they start to join the queue of the local authority for the funding to provide the grant. Telling me something that I, and these families, knew months ago is of no use to me. I would like to know when the resources will be provided, when these families will get the reports and when will they finally get the adaptations they so urgently need.

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