Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As Deputy Tully has said, the Bill ensures that people with a disability and older people receive a timely decision on their applications for housing adaptation grants. As co-sponsor of the Bill, I would like to compliment Deputy Tully on all her hard work on this. If the Bill progresses, local authorities administering the housing adaptation grant for people with a disability shall, as far as is practicable, progress applications for the grant within a period of not more than four weeks from the date of receipt of the application. Deputy Tully has outlined all of the paperwork that needs to be handed in.

I say, "If the Bill progresses" because the Minister of State has proposed to delay it for a year. The reason for this is that the Minister of State knows the Bill is necessary and does not want to be seen to oppose it. Kicking the can down the road will prolong the agony for many families who desperately need a decision on their grant applications. I know of a number of cases in south Kildare where it has taken two years for a decision to be made. Let me be clear; I do not blame council staff or officials. They are being let down by the Government. They are struggling with poor staffing levels, delays in central funding allocation and under-investment.

Many people require adaptations to be made to their homes as a result of a disability that has existed from birth or which has been acquired through an accident or illness. The grant helps to make changes and adaptations to a person's home. For example, it can make a home wheelchair accessible, extend it to create more space or add a ground floor bathroom, toilet or even a simple thing like a stairlift. That can have a huge impact on the quality of life these people deserve. However, people are often unable to live in their homes until the required works are carried out. This can regularly require an extended stay in hospital or having to relocate to a nursing home for a period of time. As Deputy Tully said, this can be costly to the person concerned, their families and the State. This takes up badly needed bed spaces in hospitals due to delayed discharges. We are very aware how valuable a hospital bed currently is, and if we are not there is something wrong and we damn well should be.

Many people who have made an application for this grant have been forced to wait months for approval. This Bill will, I hope, change this and I urge the House to support it.

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