Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the debate on the adaptation grant because it affects everybody who needs provision for housing adaptation. I am sure everyone will agree the current process in most local authorities is highly cumbersome. It needs to be streamlined, while the guidelines for the adaptation grant should be clarified because they are quite bureaucratic. Anecdotally, there have been cases where people who needed modifications have died while waiting for the grants to be processed. That has happened in the area covered by South Dublin County Council to individuals who waited for more than two or three years for essential work on their house but who died in hospital while waiting for their application to be processed. That is not good.

The funding for the adaptation grant was reduced from €95 million to €71 million this year, which has a knock-on effect for local authorities and, more important, people who avail of the grant. In South Dublin County Council, €2.5 million is provided for private tenants, which is oversubscribed, as it is for council tenants. The waiting time is two years for a stairlift or walk-in shower, which are essential forms of adaptation. Without them, people cannot leave hospital, while if they live at home, they must sleep downstairs because they cannot go upstairs.

I turn to the criteria for the grant. The maximum grant is currently €30,000, although I am sure the Minister of State will correct me if I am wrong. I have done some calculations with that figure. If two parents earn the average industrial wage, it will put them over the threshold in South Dublin County Council. While the average industrial wage is no great shakes, if both parents earn it, or above €60,000, they cannot avail of anything - not a penny. Despite potentially having a child with special needs, they will not receive any money through the grant, which is deeply unfair. The thresholds and income disregard should be much higher than they are, which goes to the crux of the issue. Some people are disadvantaged because they work, while others do not work but are nonetheless at a disadvantage because they cannot have the necessary works done. It is important to reconsider the means test, the threshold and the income disregard because as time passes, people wish to remain at home rather than move to institutions or hospitals. That is how community care has developed and will continue to develop.

I am glad we are having the debate and hope something can come out of it. I have been a Deputy for three years and know that while issues such as this are often discussed, sometimes nothing ever happens. I hope that through the Bill, along with the Minister of State's amendment, circumstances can be streamlined and improved for everybody to whom they apply.

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