Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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101. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will take measures to accelerate the processing time of housing applications and disability or medical information forms; if he will address the issue of frequent refusals of medical priority and need, despite overwhelming medical and welfare evidence to the contrary that priority is required and that particular medical needs should be accommodated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37001/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Applications for social housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority, in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended. Decisions on the qualification of households for support, the awarding of medical priority, the most appropriate form of support and the allocation of that support are a matter solely for the respective local authorities.

Regulation 12 of the 2011 Regulations prescribes the timescales for the processing of applications and provides that, subject to conditions, a local authority shall deal with an application within 12 weeks. Local authorities will prioritise housing needs assessments for those in greatest need and ensure that such applications are dealt with within time-frames that are significantly shorter that the statutory maximum.

If the local authority requires additional information from the applicant, it should request that information as early into the assessment process as possible. In accordance with Regulations the applicant has four weeks from the time of the request to provide the requested information/documentation to the local authority.

Where it is not possible for the applicant to provide any information/documentation requested within the four-week period (e.g. where documentation is being sought from a third party that has been delayed), a local authority may, if it feels it appropriate, grant an extension to the applicant to provide the requested information/documentation. Local authorities then have six weeks after receipt of additional information requested to process the application. In any event, the processing of a valid application by a local authority shall not exceed 14 weeks after the initial 12 weeks from the date of application has expired.

My Department issued National Guidelines for the Assessment and Allocation Process for Social Housing Provision for People with a Disability in 2017 to assist in streamlining the management of the housing assessment and allocation process for disabled people, including those living in the community and those transitioning to the community from residential care. These guidelines are intended to support housing authorities in carrying out assessments of housing need for disabled people within a planned and structured framework to ensure that their needs can be assessed as effectively as possible in a timely manner.

The Guidelines are available at www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/120722/35f5a5e6-afdf-445d-bb5e-c5f61cf529de.pdf#page=null.