Dáil Éireann Debate, Friday - 7 September 2018
1344. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his views on the recommendation by an organisation (details supplied) that wheelchair accessible housing be made more available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35765/18]
View answerMy Department is in regular contact with disability advocates in relation to the housing issues of people with disabilities. I met with the organisation referred to last year on the issue of wheelchair accessible housing and further meetings with my Department have taken place since then.
One of the key measures achieved in 2016 under the National Housing Strategy for People with a Disability (NHSPWD), which has been extended to 2020, was the establishment of Housing and Disability Steering Groups (HDSGs) in all housing authority areas, to achieve a coordinated and integrated approach to meeting the housing needs of people with a disability at local level. These are chaired by Directors of Housing in each authority and include HSE and disability representative organisations. Each HDSG has prepared a local Strategic Plan for its own City/County area, to develop specific local strategies to meet identified and emerging need over the next five years. These Plans, along with the annual Summary of Social Housing Assessments, allow local authorities to plan more strategically for the housing needs of people with a disability and support the delivery of accommodation using all appropriate housing supply mechanisms. This is a more targeted and responsive way to meet actual need identified rather than designating a specific percentage or number of new social housing builds that are fully wheelchair accessible although some authorities may choose to allocate a percentage if they choose.
New buildings and extensions or material alterations to existing buildings must comply with the legal minimum performance standards set out in the Building Regulations 1997 - 2017. In this context, the Building Regulations (Part M Amendment) Regulations 2010, and the accompanying Technical Guidance Document M – Access and Use (2010), which came into effect on 1 January 2012, set out the minimum statutory requirements that a building must achieve in respect of access. The TGDs are available on my Department’s website at http://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/building-standards/tgd-part-d-materials-and-workmanship/technical-guidance-documents.
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 of the Building Regulations aims to foster an inclusive approach to the design and construction of the built environment. 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.
Guidance on how to design, build and manage buildings and spaces so that they can be readily accessed and used by everyone, regardless of age, size, ability or disability, is available in 'Building for Everyone, A Universal Design Approach', a National Disability Authority(NDA) publication, which may be accessed at www.nda.ie.
