Frank O'Rourke (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill, which I am co-sponsoring with my colleague, Deputy O'Dea. To capture some of the points made by my colleague, this Bill is being brought forward for the right reason, which is to alleviate congestion in a process that is unnecessarily backlogged. It will help the most vulnerable in society, that is, the elderly who need their houses adapted or people with a disability.

We do not want it to grab a headline. We just want it to help the people who are on the front line and need access to this service, and for these grants to be approved more efficiently and effectively, so they can improve their standard of life and keep living at home where they are happiest. That is key. I am completely opposed to the Government amendment proposing to delay the process for six months. It is unnecessary. What we are suggesting here is to help the process in line with the review that is being carried out at the moment. These provisions could be implemented tomorrow morning and they would not affect the review. All the Bill does is provide that the relevant information would be gathered and submitted at the same time as the application and a decision would be made within a month. That is not the case at the moment. There is no good reason not to accept this because it is a positive, practical, pragmatic piece of work that my colleague, Deputy O'Dea, and I have undertaken.

The proposed measure is mainly geared at people living in private homes who need adaptation work done as they get older or due to a disability. We know the same grant system for council tenants is administered through a completely different process, namely, the architects' departments in the local authorities. This will streamline the process and make it much more efficient. When we spoke to colleagues in different local authorities we found that decisions on applications can take six months or more. While some local authorities are exceptionally good, there is, unfortunately, inconsistency in the process. This inconsistency places the most vulnerable, the people who are suffering, at risk.

I am familiar with the position in hospitals and nursing homes through my work in my home county. People are waiting for grants to be approved and are going through a lengthy process, which is unnecessarily dragged out. People are medically fit to be discharged from a hospital or nursing home but cannot leave due to delays in grants being approved and in completing the modification work needed to make their homes suitable for them to operate independently. That is a serious problem. People who want to be independent want to be at home, not in hospitals or nursing homes, especially when they know they could live happily at home if some modifications were done to their house with the aid of this grant of up to a maximum of €30,000.

It is worth pointing out the detail of the Bill. It would not create an extra cost for the applicant. The current process and the one proposed are similar and parallel. The only difference is that our Bill provides for the information gathering to be done at the one time. The application still has to be completed by the applicant. He or she still must submit all income details and confirm that he or she has paid the property tax where applicable. The Bill provides that applicants would submit an occupational therapist's report. The occupational therapists in the community or in hospitals are working with the people who need these modifications. In most cases, they make a recommendation with the application in the first instance or may even contact the local authority to help these people get back to independent living. The irony is that we have suitably qualified occupational therapists in the community making practical, pragmatic recommendations that are completely ignored. That creates further delays and problems in the process. The Bill provides that the recommendations of occupational therapists operating on the ground, who are helping people with these applications, would be submitted with the application. In addition, two registered, tax compliant contractors would submit quotations for the works, as is currently the case, except that this is done at the moment over a protracted period. Under the provisions of the Bill, the quotations would be submitted with the applications. In most cases at the moment there is no need for an architect to do any design or drawing unless the works are substantial. Currently, if a drawing is required, it is up to the applicant to submit the drawing. Therefore, we are not changing anything. We are providing that such designs by a suitably qualified person will be submitted if needed. There is no change or additional cost to the applicant. There is no impediment. Applicants have to submit all of this information over a protracted period at present and the Bill provides for it to be submitted at the one time and for a decision to be made within four weeks of the application being submitted. That makes the whole process much more efficient and streamlined for the applicant.

Occupational therapists working in the community with those who are ageing or have a disability see the complications in the home that need to be addressed quickly. At the moment, when the application goes into the local authority and it sends out its own occupational therapist, he or she can take a view that is completely at variance with what is practical and pragmatic. He or she may have no understanding for the issues people are experiencing or the turmoil in their life caused by their condition. In one recent case, one of these occupational therapists recommended to put someone who was severely disabled into a room with no window. That is the level of silliness and inconsistency that is going on at the moment. When it was flagged in the community occupational therapist's report, who was working with the individual on a weekly basis, it was completely ignored.

We are trying to cut out all the delay and unnecessary red tape and to work with suitably qualified people on the ground. Our population is ageing, as the Minister of State knows, and more and more people will want to live independently at home. The Bill is a good way of making sure that happens sooner rather than later. I hope the Government embraces the Bill, the positives in it and the sentiments behind it. It is motivated only for the sake of one individual, the applicant, who needs to live independently in his or her own home with the help of a grant to overcome the issues caused by age or by having a disability.

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