Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are many issues that I could raise in regard to housing and housing needs, for example, the cost of rent, the cost of purchase, availability and so on. However, I wish to raise the issue of the lack of housing suitable for disabled people and the lack of will to meet the needs of disabled people who seek social housing. I have been contacted by many families where there are aged parents, perhaps in their 70s or 80s, and they have a disabled son or daughter living with them. The disabled person could be in their 20s, 30s, 40s, or even 50s, and they are still living at home with their parents. They have their name on the social housing list, often for in excess of ten years. Either the council is not forthcoming with accessible housing or, more often than not, the HSE will not provide the supports needed to allow the disabled person to live independently. In fact, frequently it is dragged out so much that the parent passes away or is no longer capable of looking after their son or daughter, and he or she end up being put in a residential home or, worse still, a nursing home against his or her will. This has to stop.

The Government states in the document that it is going to continue to assist the transition of people from congregated settings to community living. If it continues at the current pace, it could take 20 years for everyone to be moved. People are still being admitted to congregated settings and to nursing homes, even though there was a commitment given to relocate people to community settings in time to move on. Of course, that deadline was missed.

The Housing for All document states that the delivery of key health and social care support is particularly important and that strengthening and supporting such co-ordination for people with disabilities will be a particular focus. Will there be a ring-fenced budget for housing disabled people? Until the various Government agencies come together committed to delivering housing for disabled people with a dedicated budget to do so, it will not change. It is mentioned in the document that the Government is including disabled person's organisations in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD. They should be included anyway and not just because the convention says so, but because it is the right and obvious thing to do.

In general, the number of people looking for a place to live continues to increase. The number of options to rent are zero unless exorbitantly priced. People are sleeping on the street, in cars, on the sofas of family or friends or in hovels, which best describes some of the rental properties on the market. A properly planned and resourced affordable housing scheme is needed. Building eight houses this year for affordable purchase just does not cut it. The most vulnerable are those who are just above the income threshold for social housing, but only just, and therefore cannot afford the rents being charged. Couples who are separating and have to vacate the home are also particularly hard hit.

The issue of derelict houses was raised by other Members. I have witnessed over the years attempts to draw up a register of derelict houses. It is never completed, or if it is, nothing is ever done about it. It is time to properly resource this and tackle the problem in a serious manner.

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