Ms Frances Spillane:

Senator Colm Burke asked how advanced we are in terms of the proposals. Other members have also raised that issue. As pointed out by Senator Burke it takes time to prepare legislation. It took the NHSS a long time to develop its fair deal scheme. We are at the early stage of developing our policy proposals. On a positive note, the literature review is a very good basis for planning our policy proposals. A new unit has been set up in the Department, headed by my colleague, Mr. Robert Deegan, known as the older people's project unit, which is tasked with developing policy projects. We are still resourcing this unit but the hope is that it will help us to progress more quickly. I will defer to my colleague, Mr. Deegan, in terms of providing more detail on the timescale.