Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 July 2024
253. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures that will be undertaken to address the barriers facing people with intellectual disabilities in securing appropriate housing (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30545/24]
View answerMy 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 sets out 107 Actions to achieve the vision of the joint Strategy for delivering housing and related supports for disabled people to 2027. It supports 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’. Accessibility is a key feature running through all of the Actions in the Plan, each of which is assigned to one or more stakeholders.
Housing for All 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.
In December 2023, my colleague the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth launched the Action Plan for Disability Services 2024 – 2026 which is available at the following link; www.gov.ie/en/publication/70871-disability-action-plan-2024-2026/
My Department is committed to working with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and the HSE within the framework of the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022-2027 to support them in the advancement of the housing related actions in the Action Plan for Disability services 2024-2026.
