Irish Wheechair Association

Uimhir Thagarta Uathúil: 
KK-C162-248
Stádas: 
Submitted
Údar: 
Irish Wheelchair Association
Líon na ndoiciméad faoi cheangal: 
0
Teorainneacha Gafa ar an léarscáil: 
Níl
Údar: 
Irish Wheelchair Association

Litir Chumhdaigh

Background

Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) has a vision of an Ireland where people with disabilities enjoy equal rights, choices and opportunities in how they live their lives, and where our country is a model worldwide for a truly inclusive society. We work with, and on behalf of, people with physical disabilities to drive positive change in Ireland through the influencing of public policy, the provision of quality services and enabling accessibility to all aspects of society.

Irish Wheelchair Association is Ireland’s leading representative organisation and service providers for people with physical disabilities. We advocate for the needs of people with physical disabilities and provide services and support to over 20,000 members in their homes and communities throughout Ireland every year.

Everything we do is driven by IWA’s vision of an Ireland where people with disabilities can enjoy equal rights, choices and opportunities and live their lives independently.

IWA believes in a fair and inclusive society. We work actively to ensure that every person with a physical disability in Ireland can achieve their right to an independent life, with equal access to opportunities, services and supports within their communities.

Services we provide:

• Irish Wheelchair Association is also an approved housing body specialising in wheelchair accessible housing which it provides directly to its members in Dublin, Carlow, Tipperary, Kilkenny, Galway, Mayo and Roscommon.

• Every year our 1,600 personal assistants provide over two million hours of support to help those with physical disabilities and other mobility impairments in their journeys towards independent living.

• We provide community centres, training facilities, social activities and holiday homes.

• The largest of our services is the Assisted Living Service which provides Personal Assistants to people in their own homes and communities.

• People are central to everything we do with a focus on improving quality of life.

For almost 60 years, IWA has pioneered the development and delivery of innovative, quality assured services to people with physical disabilities and has continually advocated for greater access to society for people with disabilities.

People with disabilities are strong independent people who have the right to be part of society and should be recognised as such, it is the environment (Housing/transport/street/city scape) that enables or disables a person with a disability.

This submission should be seen only as one stage of the consultation phase so that concerns raised by people with disabilities are dealt with as they are planned and not when they have been implemented. The need for ongoing meaningful consultation on a phase by phase basis is compulsory, understanding that a city that is accessible to a person with a disability is a city that is accessible to everyone.

The ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) brought with it a legal basis for people with disabilities to have the right to live independently. This independence will only come when it is truly realised that people with disabilities have the same rights as everyone else such as transport, housing, education employment etc. Unless real consultation and implementation of policy becomes a reality independence for people with disabilities will not be realised. It is imperative that Kilkenny Council implements the new Development Plan in a cross departmental structure if people with disabilities are to be really included in society with equal status to participate.

Irish Wheelchair Association welcomes the opportunity to participate in the Public Consultation Process.

Observations

IWA Submission on Housing and Community

Article 28 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) on providing an Adequate Standard of Living and Social Protection states that, “governments must ensure access by persons with disabilities to public housing programmes.”

The experience of IWA members who are wheelchair users in accessing social housing has not been positive. People who are wheelchair users typically spend long waiting periods on social housing lists with no timeframe within which to expect an offer of housing. Despite the ongoing implementation of the National Housing Strategy for People with a Disability there is still no strategically planned annual supply of fully wheelchair accessible properties. IWA’s guidelines in designing a fully wheelchair accessible property are set out in chapter 10 of IWA Best Practice Access Guidelines 4. IWA recommends that a property is designed to be sustainable over the lifetime of a person who is a wheelchair user as needs, use of mobility and exercise equipment and the requirement for personal assistance change.

In addition, the lack of personal assistance prohibits many people with disabilities from applying for social housing in the first instance, as they cannot live independently without the Personal Assistant support.  We refer you to Article 19 UNCRPD which states that persons with disabilities have access to a range of in-home support services including personal assistance

IWA Recommends:

  1. IWA recommends that Kilkenny Development Plan includes IWA’s Think Ahead, Think Housing campaign in their housing strategy. Think Ahead, Think Housing encourages people with disabilities to apply to their local authority to secure their future housing needs. We recommend that the Council advertises the campaign in local newspapers and local radio.
  2. IWA recommends Kilkenny Development Plan commits that that all social housing projects supported by capital funding from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government deliver 7%  of integrated fully wheelchair accessible social housing units within choice locations that are accessible to community amenities and transport links.  Furthermore, the inclusion of fully wheelchair accessible design should be incorporated into each social housing project planning at stage 1 of the Capital Appraisal Process.
  3. IWA recommends that Kilkenny City Development Plan promote innovative housing design models; eg those that incorporate the provision of an overnight room for personal assistants as well as the option of people with disabilities to share a tenancy with one or two other people on the social housing list.
  4. IWA recommends mixed tenure developments or integrated housing which will ensure sustainability of all future housing in terms of a mix of people; their ages and backgrounds, ensuring that persons of different ages and persons with and without disabilities from all walks of life are part of all future housing developments.
  5. IWA recommends that all future housing meet or exceed energy requirements.
  6. IWA recommends that Kilkenny Council ensures that the expertise of people with the lived experience of disability is included in the development and roll out of the Housing Strategy for Disabled People.
  7. IWA recommends that Kilkenny Council creates a register of accessible housing available from the local authority and Approved Housing Bodies in the area.
  8. IWA recommends that Part M of the Building Regulations (2010) is reviewed to include mandatory provision for liveable wheelchair accessible housing.
  9. IWA recommends that Kilkenny Council promotes IWA Best Practice Access Guidelines (4th Edition) as a standard of choice in all new building designs.
  10. IWA recommends that Kilkenny Council develops a plan to make the approach and access to all housing complexes wheelchair accessible.
  11. IWA recommends a review of the means testing of the Housing Adaptation Grant as it is out of touch with current building costs.
  12. IWA recommends that KilkennyCouncil creates a database with the following information readily available:
  1. Number of people on the housing list requiring supports to live independently. We recommend the HSE is informed of this requirement as they are responsible for the provision of PA support.
  2. Number of people (requiring supports) in an offer zone. 
  3. Number of people in the offer zone who have received the required supports within 6 months.
  4. Number of people in the offer zone who have not received the required supports within 6 months.

Faisnéis

Uimhir Thagarta Uathúil: 
KK-C162-248
Stádas: 
Submitted
Líon na ndoiciméad faoi cheangal: 
0
Teorainneacha Gafa ar an léarscáil: 
Níl

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