Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Much like the outdatedness of the housing assistance payment, which has no bearing on current rental costs, the upper limit on the housing adaptation grant has remained the same for 13 years. It no longer has any bearing on the actual costs that many people in my constituency of Tipperary face. The annual rate of construction inflation hit 13.4% from January to December 2021. In Tipperary, this has led to some people, who have been waiting years since applying, finding they now have to give it up because they cannot afford the extent of the contribution they have to pay. For someone who needs a downstairs bedroom and bathroom, €30,000 does not cover it any more. Those people are expected to come up with the remainder, which nowadays can run to tens of thousands of euro. These are the people with least. Those additional costs have also become so high that builders who have frequently tried to be as accommodating as possible have reached the limit of their flexibility.

These are the people who I and my Sinn Féin colleagues hear from. They are left with no option but to give up on being able to adapt their homes to suit their needs. They are the people who have gone through the long application and approval process and are finally in a position to get work done. There are many others who continue to wait until their condition deteriorates, their mobility worsens and prices skyrocket. They are confining themselves to certain rooms and now have limited freedom, even within their own home. They are ill, they are cold and they are uncomfortable, and the longer they wait, the less likely the grant will go as far as it should.

This is where the difference between priority 1 and 2 begins to lose distinction. For years, Sinn Féin has been calling for increased grant funding in alternative budgets but the Minister has delayed and stalled and now finds himself in a situation where costs are spiralling and people's quality of life is failing. It has been said that the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities demands access for those living in situations of poverty to assistance from the state with disabilities-related expenses. What measures does the Minister intend to bring forward to do right by the people who are most in need? If he would prefer to talk in purely monetary terms rather than address people's realities, then let me put it this way. The Minister can quote figures all day long but if he was in touch with the local authorities, they will tell him it is not enough to deal with the work that has to be done. Some €81 million is a lot of money but it is not even enough to clear priority 1 cases and everyone knows there is a backlog with that too. Would the Minister not prefer to have the financial savings that come with adapting a person’s home rather than the cost involved in leaving people with no alternative but to go into residential care?

On a final point, the application process is drawn out and beset with delays, and this needs to be addressed. The odds are stacked against those in need. We need to enable local authorities to meet the costs involved, address inflation and ensure that applications can be processed in a timely manner.

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