Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputies O'Dea and O'Rourke on tabling the Bill. I support the Bill's general principles, although the issues are far wider than the specifics of the Bill. This is an opportunity for us to raise those issues. Deputy Munster has outlined in fair detail the kind of cases that we are all dealing with in terms of delays and inadequate money.

The Minister of State, Deputy English, stated that €71 million has been allocated this year. I presume that is just for the private grants - those for older people and the disability and mobility grants - all of which make a huge difference to people's lives and allow them to remain at home or be discharged from hospital or from long-term care in a way that is beneficial to individuals and their families but also to the public purse, out of which hospital charges, long-term care costs, etc are paid. It is one of those schemes that generally gives rise to a far greater benefit than the actual cost involved. Unfortunately, the different Departments operate in silos and they all have their own spending budgets.

We all need to make the case for more money for these grants because, as has been stated, there is a shortage of money. In addition, waiting times are far too long, particularly for people who desperately need access to certain facilities. I deal a lot with individuals who cannot get into their baths and they are looking for level access showers. Some really good wet rooms and showers have been installed in people's homes. These have made an enormous difference to the lives of those involved because they have been able to remain in their homes. Similarly, there are others who have been waiting for far too long. In many cases, such individuals have physical disabilities which mean that they simply cannot manage in houses that do not have level access showers.

There is something of a postcode lottery at play here. The system is far more efficient in some local authority areas than in others. There needs to be a level of consistency imposed by the Department. I am aware that local authorities are singular entities and that they are autonomous in many ways. However, surely there can be some national monitoring strategy or policy which ensures that there is that level of consistency throughout the country. Calling local authorities in and telling them what they should be doing does not seem to be effective with some of them.

As I understand it, the Bill relates to private grants. However, I am concerned about council tenants. I was shocked in the past week when I received an email in respect of a particular applicant who is a council tenant and who needs a bathroom conversion. The reply stated, "At the moment we are not accepting applications as we have over 2 yrs of backlog and are still awaiting funding to be released from the department so we cannot accept new applications at present." That is two years of a backlog in the local authority area in which Deputy O'Dea and I both live. I am sure it is not the only local authority that has such a backlog. These grants are good whether one is a private house or a council house but people in council houses should not have to wait that length of time. If a person lives in a private house, he or she might have some chance of managing to do some of the work himself or herself. However, people who live in council houses cannot do such work. They have no choice about the matter and, as is obvious, they are in a lower income bracket.

There should be a greater focus on funding for those who live in council houses. I know of many people who live in these houses and who have not been able to these adaptations done within any kind of decent timescale. I urge the Minister of State to ensure that a greater focus is placed on council tenants. I am not saying that money should be taken from Peter in order to pay Paul. However, this area has been neglected and more funding is required in respect of it. When the Minister of State is allocating funding again, I hope he will look at that aspect. The European Committee of Social Rights issued a report yesterday which basically states that the condition of council homes in Ireland is very bad. I accept that this is a more general form of criticism but if there was more funding available in respect of these grants, people would probably enjoy better living conditions. That is the main point I wanted to make, although there is a general point on which I agree with previous speakers.

On the Bill, I am not quite sure why there is so much detail in the requirements which the Minister of State has said may need to be changed in terms of occupational therapy reports, the need for two estimates, etc. It was probably not necessary to include that level of detail but perhaps it is there for a reason. The Bill should proceed to the next Stage. If necessary, it can be amended to make it consistent with the existing legislation, which covers the three grants, namely, housing aid for older people and the disability and mobility grants.

In general, I support the Bill. As stated, however, I would like to see a focus on council tenants who are waiting a long time for adaptations in their homes. Their homes are as much theirs as are those of people who own private dwellings and who make applications. We need to ensure that we do whatever can be done in order to allow people to live in their own homes. Everyone agrees that the latter is best for people, particularly if it can be facilitated. I will support the Minister of State if he needs to get more money from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in order to ensure that we can do what is necessary. It makes sense, from a cross-departmental perspective, to spend this money because it will lead to money eventually being saved by the Department of Health and result in the best outcome for the people involved. I support the Bill.

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