Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

These are extremely valuable grants. We hear often from people who benefit from them, particularly older people, that they help keep them safe in their homes. Let us all acknowledge that there is good work happening as a consequence of these grants. I do not think that legislation on its own is always the only policy response required. Processing times vary across the country. There is a huge difference in the number of local authority staff employed by some local authorities relative to others. Kerry was mentioned earlier. Taking the example of Kerry and Meath, there are 60,000 or 70,000 more people living in Meath than there are in Kerry but the last time I checked Kerry County Council had double the number of staff of Meath County Council. The ability to process applications is often related to staff numbers. It is not that staff are not doing their jobs. In areas where there is a shortage of staff application turnaround times can vary. This needs to be examined in addition to legislative change. It may well be that legislation is not required if administrative ability is strengthened where necessary.

The means testing for some of the grants can leave a cohort of people far behind. This cohort most definitely includes a family with a child with a disability. Where there is a reasonable amount of earning power but there are other children, one of whom might, for example, be in college, the means test is an unfair disadvantage. There is a different weighting required where there is a child with a long-term disability. I do not think this requirement is being fairly or properly captured in the current grants system. It would be useful to hear not only from the local authorities but from those people who have applied for grants and received them and those who applied and did not get them. It would be important to hear from a focus group of that cohort about their experiences as this would enable us to identify the shortcomings and tailor our responses to those experiences.

Like other speakers, I am routinely contacted about people who are in a hospital and cannot return home. Local authorities do not take such matters into consideration in the processing of applications. They administer applications on the basis of date of receipt and then by category but applications in respect of funding for adaptations to enable people to return to their homes are not a category in their own right. If we are to keep people at home, well and safe and out of nursing homes, there will have to be an adjustment made in this respect. It is really important that this is factored in.

In the main, these grants are an incredibly important solution for people to live safely in their homes or to live independently. Whatever changes need to happen need to be for the better but there is a lot that is happening that is very good as well.

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