Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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My Department jointly published the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People (NHSDP) 2022-2027 with the Department of Health (DoH) and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) in January 2022 and the Implementation Plan for the Strategy on 22 June 2023. The Strategy and Implementation Plan may be accessed on my Department’s website at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/60d76-national-housing-strategy-for-disabled-people-2022-2027/

The Implementation Plan provides for the detailed implementation of the joint Strategy which sets out the Government’s vision for delivering housing and related supports for disabled people to 2027. The Implementation Plan will support the primary objective of the Strategy which is ‘to facilitate disabled people to live independently with the appropriate choices and control over where, how and with whom they live, promoting their inclusion in the community’.

The Strategy and Implementation Plan operates under the framework of Housing for All-A New Plan for Ireland (published in September 2021) which provides a new housing plan for Ireland to 2030 with the overall objective that every citizen in the State should have access to good quality homes through a steady supply of housing in the right locations, with economic, social and environmental sustainability built into the system. The strategy sets out, over four pathways, a broad suite of measures to achieve its policy objectives together with a financial commitment of in excess of €4 billion per annum. The Plan 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 disabled people.

My Department also provides funding to local authorities for the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability scheme. The Grants Scheme assists eligible applicants living in privately owned homes to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. The funding available for these grants in 2023 has increased by almost €2 million on the original 2022 provision to a total of €83.125 million which includes an Exchequer funding provision of €66.5 million together with a €16.625 million contribution from local authorities.

Housing for All commits to reviewing the Grants scheme and a report on the review has been prepared by my Department. The review was informed by engagement with external stakeholders, including the Department of Health, the HSE, the Disability Federation of Ireland and the Irish Wheelchair Association. Written submissions were also invited and considered as part of this process. Among the areas which the review considered are the income thresholds (including the means test provisions) and grant limits, and the application and decision-making processes including the supplementary documentation required.

On foot of my consideration of the Review report, I have asked my Department to engage with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform on the recommendations in the Review report, and this engagement is ongoing at present. I will publish the report, including the agreed amendments to the scheme, once that engagement has concluded.