Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If everybody in a nursing home had a home that was a principal private residence, the Department might be lucky to get 25,000 back in. I am not in favour of that. I am not in favour of putting pressure on people in nursing homes. The average lifespan of someone in a nursing home is between two and a half to three years. People are very vulnerable, can be extremely unwell and isolated and feel under huge pressure. I would be concerned about that process notwithstanding the fact that there could be incentives if they wish. It is a significant issue. I want the Department to look at vacant non-principal private residences around the country, particularly in rent pressure zones. In the case of vacant non-principal private residences within a rent pressure zone, one is not putting somebody out of their home, taking the property from them or wrongly putting pressure on them when they are, by definition, extremely ill. This is the wrong way to go. I want to be very clear on that. This has been a very important debate and I hope we will have another one soon but we need to put more pressure on those vacant properties that are not principal private residences. If we do this, it will not involve that adverse personal pressure on vulnerable people to which I am opposed.