Results 141-160 of 4,798 for speaker:Michael Moynihan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: Apologies have been received from Deputy Murnane O'Connor. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss planning for inclusive communities. On behalf of the committee, I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage, Deputy Kieran O'Donnell, and his officials: Patrick O'Sullivan, principal officer, and Clare Naughton, assistant principal officer,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Kieran O'Donnell. I invite Senator Erin McGreehan, who is substituting for Senator Fiona O'Loughlin, to speak.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: I was reminded as we started that the last time I chaired a committee meeting, the Minister of State was on this side and he was interrogating a few very high-profile individuals back in 2008, 2009 and 2010. We had a few very robust meetings.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: There are a few points. Ensuring Independent Living and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was one of the first reports the committee did back in March 2022, which is two years ago. Two of the recommendations, 5.6 and 5.7, were about the housing adaptation grants. One of those referred to a situation when somebody from decongregated settings or who had...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: No, they were not in private accommodation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: No, the parents were in their own family home. This person is over 40 years of age.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: They did, because the service provider could not provide accommodation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: We applied to the local authority before Christmas and-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: For the adult themselves. The person with a disability applied in December 2023 and they were turned down.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: The advice I got, as recently as last Friday, was that the local authority would have to liaise with the Department. I outlined the reasons and went back to the appeals body within the local authority. We had been given every encouragement, as an awful lot of people with disabilities are, to go on the housing list, because that is a mechanism for the service provider to access capital...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: I will. That case is fundamental to a lot of what we do at the committee and many of the recommendations we made in the report in respect of ensuring independent living. The other issue raised by our Vice Chairperson was that of decongregation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: The policy of new beginnings and all of that has been well documented. It has been in place for a decade or more. There are huge challenges, however, for approved housing bodies, which are sometimes the service providers. When they look for accommodation or money for accommodation, there are challenges along the way, including HIQA reports, and all the other documentation the statutory...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: I will make one other point. The disabled person's grant-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: The standard disabled person's grant-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: For a private house. To categorise it, for a stairlift in that house. It is the disabled person's grant. It is the grant for the person with a disability. On the comments I made, if somebody with a disability due to a stroke or car accident moves in with a son or daughter or whatever, and the income of the son or daughter is way over the limit, the next thing is they cannot accommodate...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: I thank the Minister of State. I also thank Mr. O'Sullivan and Ms Naughton for their indulgence.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: I thank the Minister of State, Ms Naughton and Mr. O'Sullivan for their indulgence, our members for their help and commitment, and the team for all the work they do behind the scenes. We will have a private meeting at 5 p.m. next Wednesday. Our next public meeting will be on Monday, 8 April at 11 a.m. in the Seanad Chamber.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (20 Mar 2024)

Michael Moynihan: The exact reason was because the person was said to not have rented privately for six months or longer and also that no details were submitted to outline the supports that would allow the person to live independently. A social worker's report was provided by the service providers in the application but what was written in the correspondence was that the person had not rented privately for...