Maura Hopkins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators John Dolan, Grace O'Sullivan and the other Independent Senators who brought this Private Members' motion forward today.I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. As a health care professional, having worked as an occupational therapist for the past eight years, I have worked with many people who have suffered from disability and have been involved with many who needed housing adaptations. I bring that experience to the motion. I am mindful of what the Minister said about the wealth of experience of this issue in the Seanad.

As legislators, we must work to ensure that our country provides appropriate and adequate housing for those with disabilities. No individuals in this State should be disadvantaged in their access to accommodation because they suffer from a disability. The figures presented in the context of this motion are very stark. We are working on figures for 2013 which show that almost 4,000 people on the housing list have a disability. We must make sure these applications are progressed and processed as quickly as possible. We all await the action plan on housing which is to be announced next week. It is important that time was taken to consider that because it is cross-departmental, and it is the same for people with a disability. This crosses the Departments of Health, Social Protection, Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Children and Youth Affairs. We need to make sure that people with disabilities are involved in that process. I welcome what the Minister said about the action plan being a working document and that there will be consideration of which changes are positive and which need to be amended.

I want to focus on two issues, the first of which is the provision of housing adaptation grants and the barriers and challenges for people with a disability. The grants provide older people and people with a disability with an opportunity to continue independent living in their own homes for as long as possible. There has been an increase in funding for 2016, which is a very important and positive step. In my county of Roscommon, the allocation for this year was €945,000, up from €811,000 in 2015. These grants are absolutely vital for people with a disability in order to support modifications required within their homes. It is very important that the grants are processed as efficiently as possible. I have worked with many individuals who have to stay an unnecessary length of time in hospital or in convalescence because of a delay in processing applications. It is for local authorities to process the applications but it is important that the Government takes an active role in making sure the targets are met. I would like the Minister to review the threshold for household income. It is based on the property owner’s annual gross income together with the spouse or partner’s annual gross income in the previous tax year. Where there are combined earnings of over €60,000, an individual is ineligible. Having worked as an occupational therapist in the health service, I know of many families who have had to pay the entire cost of modifications because they are slightly over the threshold. It is exceptionally difficult for them to pay all the costs of renovation and they often end up having to pay private care and home support costs as well. The threshold should be reviewed to assist as many people as possible who have a disability. It is difficult enough for them without added financial stress if they do not meet that threshold.

My second issue is that the motion refers specifically to the significant numbers of people with disabilities living in nursing homes or similar facilities. Many of these people are very young and could be more appropriately accommodated in a hospital setting. I found it very upsetting in my previous job to see young people who have real potential being discharged to a long-term care facility. It is inappropriate and should not happen. These people deserve better. We need to look towards supporting the best quality of life for them. Long-term care in a facility where they are surrounded by older people is not the right way to support them and ensure that their potential is reached. There have been steps to move towards more community care and away from institutional settings but there needs to be a stronger focus on this aspect. There needs to be a middle ground to support young people, who have so much potential, in an appropriate community setting. In many cases it is difficult for them to be accommodated in their own homes. I look forward to working with the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister of State, Deputy English, and with the Senators who have a real passion for, and commitment to, supporting people with disabilities. Today we had a really important debate, earmarking the fact that people with disabilities need support and a voice and that we will do what we can to help them. While this debate is on housing, it deals with much more than that because it crosses so many Departments. That needs to be incorporated into the action plan for housing which will be launched next week.