Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak in support of this motion. I thank Cáit Nic Amhlaoibh and my colleague, Deputy Seán Canney, for putting this motion together.

I want to focus on a particular section of the motion, which I know will be repeated a number of times. The motion states: "the unprecedented increase in construction costs, rising costs of materials and the shortage of skilled labour in Ireland is putting the cost of these upgrades and essential works beyond the reach of most of the recipients of such grant assistance". Even the most partisan of Government supporters will surely recognise that there are major problems associated with the soaring costs of construction, upgrades and essential works. It is my view that many of the actions taken by successive Governments have been the catalyst for these problems to worsen. On the one hand, Government made it more difficult for people to access credit and almost too difficult in many cases. On the other hand, Government made it more difficult for builders to build houses. This was done through a dysfunctional planning system and imposing onerous conditions on builders. When all of the associated ingredients are added into the mix the result has been the creation of a serious mess.

Often when the discussion is about the mess in housing, we focus on the plight of first-time buyers. This motion allows us the opportunity to highlight the plight faced by many others who are caught up in the housing debacle. There are many people across the country who rely on grant assistance to upgrade or repair their homes. These are usually targeted supports to assist those who, for a variety of valid reasons, may not be able to fund such work with their own income.

The first part of our motion mentions a number of examples such as the housing aid for older people grant, the mobility aids grant, and the housing adaptation grant for people with a disability to enable people to live independently in their own homes for longer. One of the main aims of this motion is to get the Government to review the level of grant funding for these schemes to bring them into line with the pace of cost increases. These grants were originally designed with thresholds which allowed the homeowner a reasonable hope of being able to complete the necessary works. The cost of works has increased by so much now that in many cases the grants are ineffective in enabling the homeowner to proceed with the work. Also, because the level of own funding required means these works have become an unrealistic goal and out of the reach of many.

In many cases we have significant wait times for people to get grant approval in much of the country. However, I am glad to report that is not an issue in my constituency of Wexford because the section of Wexford County Council that does this work is very much on top of the issue. It seems that unacceptable waiting times have become the norm for customer services among Departments in recent years. The HSE has waiting lists so long that it does not know the actual number.

I wish to mention young Leo Dixon, who is a 9-year-old wheelchair user from County Wicklow. His application for a wheelchair sat on a desk for nine weeks before being dealt with. The passport service should be renamed to reflect the slow speed of its "express service". The local authority housing lists also make for grim reading. Finally, the queues last weekend in Dublin Airport are a further example of incompetence and lack of accountability in State or semi-State organisations.

Both the prohibitive costs and the length of waiting lists has many obvious consequences for those in need of housing supports. If the work does not get done in a timely fashion then this may result is more accidents in the home, more time in hospital, greater reliance on the already under pressure home care sector, and an earlier entry into nursing homes. All of these things are harmful to the person and their families but also place a higher burden on the resources of the State.

Reviewing thresholds and increasing the amounts available under the grant schemes could very well be the stitch in time that saves nine for so many people. As stated in the motion Ireland is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which places an onus on signatories to ensure the equal right of all persons with disabilities to live in the community with choices equal to others and the opportunity to choose their place of residence and where and with whom they live on an equal basis with others and are not obliged to live in a particular living arrangement.

The other area of the motion I want to highlight is for the Government to allow discretion for people with disabilities to ensure that the grant meets the individual needs of the disabled person to live independently. Also, it is very important that a discretion in general be granted at the level of senior housing officer, director of services and senior staff officer at local level. All too often when dealing with State grants the criteria does not allow for the decision-makers to use their discretion. There are many hard-working skilled people working on the Governments’ behalf, dealing with grant applications. We need to adjust the system to allow these officials more leeway in certain circumstances to use their judgment to best meet the needs of the applicant. An example of where this discretion could have been exercised, but was not allowed under the legislation, was in respect of an elderly couple in my constituency. They are in their mid-80s. Last December their boiler packed up. When applying for a grant they were told that the work or repairs could not commence until an inspection took place. At the time, because of Covid-19, the earliest inspection date was in six weeks' later. Clearly they could not wait as they had no heating in the house. Subsequently they did not qualify for the grant as the inspection took place post-works. The money had to be borrowed from the local credit union. This is not the aim of these grants. If we look at the discretion at that level it should cure ills such as this.

I am hopeful this will result in more people being able to remain and live in comfort and safety in their own homes and help achieve the greatest value for money possible. Overall, I believe the motion is brought about by the increase in costs and I hope it receives universal support across the House.

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