Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to support this motion tabled by the Regional Group in respect of housing adaption grants. It is no harm to run through the three grants that are available generally for community and housing adaption. The housing aid for older people grant is essential to providing repairs to improve the condition of the homes of older persons, usually aged 66 or over, who are living in poor housing conditions, in order that they can continue to live in them.

The Government provides a mobility aids grant scheme. This is designed to address works in the home for people with mobility problems such as the purchase and installation of grab rails, access, shower access ramps, stairlifts, etc. Again, the scheme is primarily for older people but also for people with a disability.

The housing adaption grant for older people, and people with a disability, is designed for people who need to make physical adaptions to their home to accommodate injury, disability, trauma and, often times, a post medical procedure. The grant can be requested to accommodate persons with sensory or intellectual disability.

As the Minister of State will know, these schemes are means tested. Applications may need to be corroborated by an occupational therapist who can judge the levels of mobility and individual assistance required. These grants are vital for many people in communities, particularly for people as they age.

The whole idea of these adaption schemes is to ensure that people can remain in their homes as they get more infirm, and that they can continue to enjoy a quality of life in their communities. There is a significant social and economic dividend to the State in keeping people in their homes for as long as possible. They retain their family and community relationships for longer as they age. In general, people will also retain their mobility while they remain at home. Often times they have a wider circle of support in their community, which is what all of us want as we age. This assistance will be available to people as long as they remain in the community. Unfortunately, such assistance does not always translate when people go into managed accommodation or State-supported care.

It is a fact that many older houses in the country may require adaption to accommodate the creation of bedrooms and bathrooms downstairs. Often times there is a need to make wheelchair accessible areas in homes, so there is a very strong needs for these grants.

At present the grants scheme is available up to a ceiling of €30,000 with 20% of that funding coming from the local authority and the remaining 80% to be provided by the Department. The local authority, through approved contractors, provides the scheme generally. It is up to it to see that the works are managed. They are responsible for assessing the claims and, where appropriate, instigating works. This is where we have now run into a pretty significant problem, as the Minister of State will know. There has been a very marked increase in the cost of construction nationally. As she is well aware, a lot of public sector procurement is not being responded to at the moment simply because contractors are not entering into fixed-price agreements on works. That is one part of the problem. The second part of the problem is that the ceilings of the money available are not adequate any more to deal with the adaptations that are required.

We know that people are living longer. We also know that simple adaptions can do so much in houses, particularly to prevent elderly people from suffering from trips and falls, which are the most common cause of trauma that is suffered by older aged groups. As a result, older people often require significant hospitalisation and rehabilitation.

Unfortunately, the increasing trend in ageing is reflected in the increased funding that has been directed by the Department over the last ten years. Indeed, the level of funding has increased from €43 million in 2014 up to just over €80 million last year. Therefore, funding has doubled in the timeframe and reflects where funding is needed.

The individual grant ceilings have not changed in 12 years so my group of colleagues and I ask the Government to look at this matter. The ceilings are not adequate to provide the adaptions that are required and there has been an increase in construction costs.

Representatives of disability groups have engaged with the Minister of State and the Department. They have suggested that the ceiling must be increased to €60,000. Although the schemes are means tested, there is still a significant of number applications to each local authority and an increasing number waiting ever longer to be dealt with.

As the Minister of State will also know, the local authority has the discretion to see what funding that it can provide. As Deputy Canney has already highlighted, many local authorities are looking at the pot and realise that they are running out of money fast so they will not be able to cover the cost of providing 60%, 70% or 80% of the grant applications coming in.

In my opinion the Government needs to take a very strong look at the situation from a cost-benefit perspective. The delay in providing grants and thereby adapting houses means that people have no option other than to look for residential home care setting. As I am sure the Minister of State is aware, the average cost of residential care in the country, depending on where one lives, ranges from between €55,000 and €75,000 per annum. Even where the fair deal scheme is being utilised there is still a significant cost on the Exchequer in support of this type of activity. I am sure that any cost-benefit analysis would detail to the Minister of State that it is far better that we spend the money on adapting houses, particularly local authority houses as that housing stock may be used for further clients as time moved on.

There is a significant problem, of which we are all aware, with construction costs. We have a significant problem in the funding envelop that has been provided. We have also a significant cost in terms of the local authorities being able to support grants adequately. Therefore, our motion calls on the Government to ensure that adaption grants are linked to the cost of the specific works as a percentage of the overall cost, which would be a pragmatic approach. Also, grants must allow the discretion for people with disabilities to ensure that they meet the individual needs of the disabled persons to live independently in communities.

In conclusion, we aspire to live in an equitable society and for that we all aspire to ensure that the funding provisions are adequate to meet the needs of our most vulnerable. Clearly, they are not at present and we call on the Government to significantly review funding provisions.

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