Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank everybody who contributed to the debate. I thank the Opposition and non-Government Deputies who have expressed their support for the legislation. A number of points were made by various Members which I wish to address briefly.

Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, Deputy Munster and others made the point that many of the delays are due to funding. In my opening statement, I outlined that €71.25 million was allocated last year for housing adaptation grants, but that is woefully inadequate. Let us face it; the population is ageing and the population is growing and, therefore, we will have more people with disabilities and more elderly people who want to live in the comfort and security of their own homes. The question of funding is paramount and it must be taken on board. We deliberately left out any reference to funding because, first, we could not put extra funding in the Bill for obvious constitutional reasons concerning money messages. We are concentrating on the process so that the Government will not have any excuse to refuse to accept the legislation.

My constituency colleague from Limerick City, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, spoked about housing adaptation funding for local authority houses. I am sure the situation is mirrored around the country, but the situation in Limerick is beyond contemptible. I dealt with an elderly woman last week who is unable to walk and has to crawl up the stairs because it is a local authority house and Limerick City and County Council does not have money to fund a stairlift. The council cannot say when it will have the money and it cannot accept application forms. I have come across that situation again and again. I could give more graphic examples to the House but I will spare Members from those. I am sure the situation is mirrored around the country. We are conscious of the situation regarding funding both for private accommodation and for local authority accommodation.

I am disappointed with the Government's response to the Bill. I often listened to Ministers and could not believe what I was hearing, but it is the opposite this evening; I cannot believe what I am not hearing, which is that the Government is going to withdraw this ridiculous, absurd amendment and allow the Bill proceed to the next Stage. What in the name of heaven is the purpose of an amendment that delays further consideration of the Bill for six months? As I said in my opening statement, occasionally, we get the opportunity in this House to do something that will tangibly benefit people who need to be helped - a vulnerable section of society. The Government was presented with that very opportunity when Deputy O'Rourke and I introduced the Bill and it deliberately, callously, calculatedly and with malice and forethought decided it would not do any good for those people, that it would let the current, unsatisfactory, bureaucratic-ridden situation continue unabated.

If those people are suffering as a result it is too bad. It is too bad if they are suffering from anxiety and distress while waiting to know whether they will get a grant and, if so, how much it will be. That does not seem to matter. It is kicked into the Bermuda Triangle and will not be discussed for six months. Who knows what will have happened by then, or what this House will look like then. This is basically telling us to sod off, if I may use that expression in Parliament. The Government is not interested. It pretends it is doing studies and that it is concerned, but it is not really interested. It has been given the opportunity to do something important but instead kicks it off into the Bermuda Triangle.

Given the reasons for the postponement, it is no surprise the Minister of State did not issue a script. He was the sole possessor of the script, which we are all supposed to get a copy of, and he raced through it at a rate of knots. He speaks quickly at the best of times, but he really excelled today. I suspect the reason the script was not circulated was that the reasons and excuses given are so ridiculous, threadbare and tenuous that the Government was afraid it would be released to the media. It will be available, and we will release it. He said that in 2017 - some two years ago - the Government decided this had to be dealt with and the system had to be streamlined. He now says the Government is beginning to consider how to streamline the system. We are two years down the road. People are suffering. They are waiting, and the numbers in the queues are growing, and the Government is only now beginning to consider the process of streamlining. As the Minister of State's speech went on, the situation became even more risible. We were told that some people approached local authorities with incomplete submissions. Under the system Deputy O'Rourke and I are proposing, if one's submission is incomplete, due to an error in the form or a missing document, he or she will be met at the counter by the relevant official, who will tell the person to come back with the correct documents. The Government is scratching around for excuses.

We are told that different local authorities need different types of documentation. We are proposing a standard system in which everything will be set out. I want to assure Deputy Pringle that it will not increase the burden on the applicant in any way. That is not our intention. We intend to put the minimum burden on the applicant, and we are open to any changes to the Bill which will ensure that is the case. We were also told this may not be a subject for primary legislation but could be appropriately dealt with via secondary legislation. The people who are waiting for their grants to be processed do not give a flying fig whether this is done via primary or secondary legislation, or subordinate legislation, or whether it is done via European law or Irish law. They simply want the job done and for a more efficient system to be created.

Another excuse was given; this one is a beauty. The Minister of State said that older people were not mentioned in the title. Older people are among those who apply for housing adaptation grants. I am very sorry - mea culpa - that the word "older" was not mentioned in the title. Needless to say we will accept an amendment to that effect.

We were also told that some local authorities do not need two quotes whereas others do. This will be a standardised system. The time of Civil Servants in the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment is being wasted in the search for excuses. Any excuse to fill out the time will do. They are tasked with making what looks like a reasoned argument for why this will be delayed by six months before the Government even begins to consider it. I believe Shakespeare said that a guilty conscious is the mother of invention. These are all invented, contrived, ridiculous, nonsensical, threadbare arguments. We want to help these people. If it is the intention of the Government not to help those people then shame on it. We are giving it a chance to do something tangible and practical for people who need help, and the Government is deliberately turning it down.

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