Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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1174. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of wheelchair users as opposed to persons with physical disabilities that are on the waiting list for social housing by local authority; the number that were on the waiting list five years ago; the number that were housed in the past five years; the number of mainstream social housing units that are planned over the next five years that will be designed in such a way that they can accommodate the specific needs of wheelchair users by local authority in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1376/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Local authorities are responsible for the provision of social housing in their areas, and, as such, decide on the number and specific types of dwellings to provide in their developments, based on identified need.

The information requested on the application form for social housing requests the applicant to categorise their disability under a number of different headings, including that of physical disability. They are not asked for more specific information, such as whether they are a 'wheelchair user'. It is not possible, therefore, to say how many wheelchair users are on the housing waiting list currently or how many have been allocated housing in previous years. These applicants are assessed as people with a physical disability but, in so doing, the local authority takes account of their individual needs, including the use of wheelchairs.

My Department, in close collaboration with the local authority sector, keeps the categorisation of housing need under continuous review. In this context consideration can be given to creating more defined categories of need, such as for example 'wheelchair user', if this was determined to be useful in terms of the strategic targeting of social housing delivery and allocation. However, this would need to be balanced with other considerations including the impact on the efficiency of the administration process surrounding assessment and allocations.

One of the key initiatives under the National Housing Strategy for People with a Disability (NHSPWD), which has been extended to 2020, was the establishment of Housing and Disability Steering Groups (HDSGs) in all housing authority areas, to achieve a coordinated and integrated approach to meeting the housing needs of people with a disability at local level. These are chaired by Directors of Housing in each authority and include HSE and disability representative organisations.

Each HDSG has prepared a local Strategic Plan for its own City/County area, to develop specific local strategies to meet identified and emerging need over the next five years. These Plans, the majority of which are now available on the relevant local authority websites, along with the annual Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA), will allow local authorities to plan more strategically for the housing needs of people with a disability and will support the delivery of accommodation using all appropriate housing supply mechanisms.

Preliminary local authority figures in respect of 2017 indicate that the number of housing allocations to persons with a physical disability increased by 18% on 2016.