John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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167. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to amend the building regulations of 2010 (details supplied) to include technical guidance documents for wheelchair-liveable housing; and if he will engage with the disability groups to hear their perspective on the current regulations and the way they impact negatively on their lives. [47783/22]

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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168. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his views on the lack of an available stock of wheelchair-liveable housing in Ireland; the steps he will take to amend the outdated building regulations of 2010 (details supplied); the number of liveable units that have been delivered in the past five years; and the number being funded currently by his Department. [47784/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 167 and 168 together.

The Building Regulations set out the minimum legal performance requirements for the design and construction of new buildings (including dwellings) and certain works to existing buildings.

The Building Regulations (Part M Amendment) Regulations 2010, which came into effect on 1 January 2012, set out the minimum statutory requirements that a building must achieve in respect of access and use. The requirements of Part M aim to ensure that regardless of age, size or disability:

- new buildings other than dwellings are accessible and usable;

- extensions to existing buildings other than dwellings are, where practicable, accessible and useable;

- material alterations to existing buildings other than dwellings increase the accessibility and usability of existing buildings, where practicable;

- certain changes of use to existing buildings other than dwellings increase the accessibility and usability of existing buildings where practicable; and

- new dwellings are visitable.

Part M aims to foster an inclusive approach to the design and construction of the built environment.  The accompanying Technical Guidance Document M – Access and Use (2010) (TGD M), provides guidance on how the requirements of Part M can be achieved in practice. TGD M is available on my Department’s website at: www.gov.ie/en/publication/78e67-technical-guidance-document-m-access-and-use/#current-edition

While the Part M requirements may be regarded as a statutory minimum level of provision, the accompanying technical guidance encourages building owners and designers to have regard to the design philosophy of universal design and to consider making additional provisions where practicable and appropriate. 

Building Regulations and the associated TGDs are subject to ongoing review in the interests of safety and the well-being of persons in the built environment and to ensure that due regard is taken of changes in construction techniques, technological progress and innovation. A number of reviews are ongoing at present including Part B Fire Safety, Part M (Changing Places Toilet) etc.  

In respect of wheelchair liveable housing, I launched a new joint National Housing Strategy for Disabled People (NHSDP) 2022-2027 on 14 January 2022, together with my colleagues Mr Peter Burke, Minister of State for Local Government and Panning and Ms. Anne Rabbitte, T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for Disability (available at www.gov.ie/en/publication/60d76-national-housing-strategy-for-disabled-people-2022-2027/). The new Strategy sets out the vision for the cooperation and collaboration of Government Departments, state agencies and others in delivering housing and the related supports for disabled people over the next five years. This new Strategy will operate within the framework of Housing for All – A New Housing Plan for Ireland which is committed to ensuring that affordable, quality housing with an appropriate mix of housing design types provided within social housing, including universally designed units, is available to everyone in Irish society, including those with disabilities. Preparation of an Implementation Plan for the Strategy is underway.  

With regard to social housing delivery, a key action of Housing for All is that local authorities will prepare Housing Delivery Action Plans to include details of their anticipated delivery of social housing over the period 2022-2026 including housing for disabled people.  The Plans are informed by the targets for social housing delivery contained in Housing for All, and individual targets issued to each local authority in September 2021 for the same period. They set out details of local authority delivery in addition to other delivery partners, including Approved Housing Bodies. This is the first such multi-annual delivery planning undertaken by the sector and will be an iterative process throughout the 5 years. The Plans have been published by each local authority on their website.