Dr. Donal McManus:

The schemes Deputy Harty mentioned were in place throughout the country and through them about 8,000 homes were built for older people at that time. The scheme is still there. It is called the capital assistance scheme. It does not have the scale of money it had ten or 15 years ago. It has around €70 million now, compared to about €150 million 15 years ago. Houses can be either 90% State-funded and 5% self-funded, or 100% funded if all applicants are taken from the waiting list. That is the quid pro quo. It is still there. Obviously for many schemes the draw on €70 million throughout the country would be very heavy, so it would have an impact on any big schemes, but the scheme is there and it has worked very well. It has probably been one of the most successful schemes from the Government's point of view over the last 30 years because of its simplicity, but it does not have the required scale of capital funding. In that context, some associations are moving towards what Mr. O'Brien mentioned, the mixed funding regime, in which one gets a 30% capital contribution from the State and then borrows 70%. It is only where the association has equity in cash that it will do that. Smaller local associations that may not have access to cash or be able to borrow may not go down that route, but in urban areas some of the larger associations are looking at that for older people. The scheme is still there, but not on the same scale that it was 15 or 20 years ago.