Peadar Tóibín
Question:364. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average waiting time nationally for a person with a disability to be allocated social housing. [38561/20]
View answerTuesday, 24 November 2020
Questions (364)
Written answers
My Department does not collate the information on the waiting list requested by the Deputy. However, details on the number of households qualified for social housing support in each local authority area is provided in the annual statutory Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA). 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 inform policy and plan for the delivery of the right types of housing support.
The most recent summary, from June 2019 shows that 68,693 households were qualified for, and in need of, social housing support. Of this number, 4,126 households or 6% were those who had a specific need for housing based on disability. Below is the link to the summary report for 2019 which includes breakdowns by each local authority, across a range of categories. Details on the length of time spent on the record of qualified households (waiting lists) can be found at tables 2.8 and A1.8 of the report.
Report 2019https://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/publications/files/sha_summary_2019_dec_2019_web_1.pdf .
According to figures collated by the Housing Agency, in 2019 there were 2,389 allocations of social housing to households with disability as a primary basis of need. This represents 12% of total allocations for 2019. This demonstrates that local authorities are making progress in meeting the needs of persons with disabilities on the social housing waiting list.