Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for dealing with this matter and my colleague, Senator Martin Conway, for bringing forward the motion. I also commend Senators Dolan and Kelleher for coming forward with their views on this matter and all of those who have contributed to the debate.

I want to focus on one matter, namely local authorities and the role of disability officers. I have raised this issue on a number of occasions, but I am no further down the road in terms of knowing what their role is. Every local authority seems to have a different interpretation of the role of a disability officer. I wrote to a number of councillors in different local authority areas, requesting them to do some research for me. Each one came back with a different view. When I asked one local authority what work the disability officer had done in the previous 12 months, I was told there were two items with a total expenditure of €8,000.

I subsequently contacted the National Disability Authority to inquire as to whether it would formally write to local authorities to set out the role of disability officers quite clearly. My view is that their role is to assist anyone and everyone with a disability. That may include accessing public buildings, streetscapes or local authority housing. Some local authorities had the view that a disability officer should have no hand, act or part in housing for people with disabilities. I disagree with that view.

At the time, a local authority I was dealing with had an eight year waiting list for house adaptations. In fairness, within 18 months of my raising the issue sufficient funding was provided to make sure the backlog was dealt with. One family had a child who they had to lift out of bed every morning. They had to wash and tube feed her. I heard about the family in March 2014. They showed me a letter they had received dated July 2008, but no work had been carried out in the interim. I filed a complaint with the Ombudsman on behalf of the family and the work was carried out. An extension was added to the house and all of the necessary backup support required was secured. The public health nurse and many others were involved in trying to get the local authority moving, but nothing worked. As a result of the intervention of a number of people, the necessary work was carried out and funding was provided for adaptation work.

The Department needs to clarify the role of disability officers in local authorities. It would be helpful if a circular was issued to all local authorities and local authority management setting out the role of the disability officer and targets for house adaptations, planning of new estates and making sure there is adequate provision for people with disabilities. They can play a crucial role in local authorities. Some local authorities have very good and proactive disability officers.

During the downturn people who were already carrying out three or four other roles were assigned the role of disability officer. The guidelines on what those people should or should not do were pushed down the list. We now need to plan for this issue. People are living longer, which is a significant improvement, and many backup support services are available. It is important that we have long-term planning.

I recently visited a woman who is 96 years of age and lives on her own even though she is confined to a wheelchair. She is able to live on her own because has adequate support. We will have to deal with such cases from now on and we need to plan for that. When we are planning new housing estates we must not forget that people are downsizing. We must make sure there is adequate housing. That is why planning is important. Building 100 houses which are aimed at a certain population is fine, but we should also make sure that a certain percentage are aimed towards people with disabilities. Even if they are not bought by people with disabilities, they could be used by them in the future. As people get older, some will require additional support. Why not put that in place now rather than having to carry out major work in order to ensure a house can be used by a person who is in a wheelchair or has a disability?

If I get nothing from this debate but a circular to all local authorities about the role of the disability officer and local authority targets for that area I will have achieved something. I again thank the Minister of State and all of those involved in various Departments who have been proactive in this area. We have done some work, but there is a lot more to do and we all have a contribution to make to achieve that.