Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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73. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of wheelchair liveable houses that are required by each local authority across all 13 basis of need categories in view of the 2021 Summary of Social Housing Assessments; his plans to ensure the delivery of these wheelchair liveable houses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50687/22]

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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74. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of wheelchair liveable houses that have been allocated in the past 12 months by each local authority in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50688/22]

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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75. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of wheelchair liveable houses that each local authority have in their current plans, broken down by municipal district in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50689/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 73, 74 and 75 together.

The annual statutory Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA) outlines details on the number of households qualified for social housing support in each local authority area. The purpose of the SSHA is to capture the total number of households qualified for social housing support across the country whose social housing need has not yet been met, in order to better understand the level of need for such support. It sets out the categories of need under which all applicants have applied for social housing supports, including those with a disability.

My Department introduced a revised social housing application form in March 2021 in consultation with the local authority sector. The changes made provided an application form that is more customer focused, and which is more streamlined and accessible for the applicant. The application form already provided for applicants to identify housing requirements arising from a disability or medical condition, but now also includes an identifier for persons requiring 'wheelchair liveable' accommodation. In order to ensure that data captured in the SSHA aligns with the changes to the application form my Department recently collaborated with the Local Government Management Agency and the Housing Agency on a project to assess how this can best be achieved. This work is completed and the SSHA 2022 report will include the number of applicants on the housing waiting list who require ‘wheelchair liveable’ accommodation.

My Department does not hold information on the allocation of housing supports and the oversight and practical management of housing waiting lists, including the allocation and transfer of tenancies, is solely a matter for the relevant local authority in accordance with the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, and associated regulations. Section 22 of the 2009 Act requires all local authorities, as a reserved function, to make an allocation scheme determining the order of priority to be accorded in the allocation of dwellings to households qualified for social housing support and to households approved for a transfer, the allocation of which would, in the opinion of the authority, meet the accommodation needs and requirements of the households.

In addition, information on the number of ‘wheelchair liveable’ housing provided by each local authority is not available in my Department. This information may be available directly from local authorities.

The National Planning Framework (Objective 37) requires each local authority to carry out a Housing Needs Demand Assessment (HNDA) in order to correlate and accurately align overall future housing requirements, as an evolution of their existing Housing Strategy requirements under Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000. The HNDA framework also aims to ensure support of independent living for people requiring more specialised types of housing or support needs, including accessible and wheelchair housing.

The initiation, design, planning, development and management of housing projects is a matter for local authorities in exercise of their statutory functions. Each local authority also has a Housing and Disability Steering Group (HDSG) whose role it is to plan for the housing of disabled people in their areas in collaboration with the statutory agencies, including the preparation of strategic plans. The knowledge and experience of these groups on the ground plays a key role in advocating for the housing needs of disabled people when local authorities are putting housing plans in place.

I launched the second joint National Housing Strategy for Disabled People (NHSDP) 2022-2027., on 14 January 2022 together with Minister of State Peter Burke, T.D. and Ms. Anne Rabbitte, T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for Disability.The new Strategy operates 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 and older people. The role of the Housing and Disability Steering Groups will be strengthened over the lifetime of the national Strategy.

Preparation of the Implementation Plan for the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People is at an advanced stage and will be completed by year end.