Mr. Eamon Timmins:

I agree with Senator Colm Burke's point. With an ageing population, the State needs to prepare in terms of pension and health care. Families need to prepare. We all need to prepare. We will all grow old if we are lucky, and the decisions we are making now about where and how we live will have an impact. Communities also need to prepare. We run a program called care and repair. We will have a major conference tomorrow in Croke Park to examine the future of that program and how we can continue to fund it, because our sponsorship is running out. We will also examine the community groups who are working with us to see how we can grow it on the ground. This is a programme where volunteers come in to do small DIY and visitation. Many of the people we deal with are not receiving social care but might need the grass cut or a light bulb changed. They are the vulnerable side of older people who are hugely affected by emigration. Many of their families would have done these jobs. We have seen a marked rise. We need funding for that, whether it is from the corporate sector, the State or both. They are the kind of programmes we need to examine.

I agree with Deputy Healy on fuel poverty. Fuel poverty is affected by a person's income, fuel prices and insulation. Two of those three issues have been markedly hit by the State. People's incomes and income supports are falling, while the price of energy, over which the State has no control, is soaring. This issue must be addressed and there is huge dependence on the State to address that. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, has a fuel poverty strategy in place and there is a home insulation programme working. We need more funding to go into that. If I am freezing this winter there is no point in knowing there is a home insulation programme which will get to me at some stage. That will not keep me warm. We need more money to go into the scheme so that more homes can be insulated.