Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

One reason why there is no disagreement is that the Housing Agency stole the show at the meeting in the Custom House. The idea of setting out the parameters, as it does, validates the Housing Agency in the first instance. It is really strategically important and we will not grapple with the issue unless we do as it does. Now I am agreeing with the witnesses.

The points about changing family size and the stock come up a lot. The demographics of the population and how we use empty stock and stock occupied by ageing citizens, and the interconnection between these elements, comes up. There are many older citizens who would happily downsize. Any of us would aspire to the development of more communal older citizen accommodation, which is independent but with a bit of support, as is the case with group housing. However, it is not in the Irish culture to deliver that. If we were to do so, it would free up a great deal of other stock that growing families could occupy. Does the Housing Agency have any specific ideas or initiatives to encourage people out of accommodation where they are over-accommodated? Examining the position in the context of big or small developments is to engage in a false debate. Many of the big developments have been riddled with the greatest social problems and these have had knock-on effects. It is a question of lack of social mix and scale.

There is a difference between cities and areas outside of cities in terms of what is possible. For example, and I do not know if the Housing Agency has done any work on it, small scale works very well in rural areas. My constituency is in Dublin but has huge rural parts. We would have small pockets of land where traditionally people came together collectively - we could call it a sort of a mini-co-operative. In some instances the council provided a site on a cheap basis and five or ten families got together and built collectively. They got the economies of scale more than they would have for one-off houses. Small is better. Has the agency done much on that and is there anything to be explored? The local authorities would find it easier to deal with big projects; it is in some ways the lazy approach. I know there is an economy of scale but it can bring a lot of problems if it is not done properly. They are just some aspects.