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

I welcome all of the different bodies here today. It very important that they made joint submissions. Joined-up thinking is what it is all about. The one thing I did not hear mentioned yet is the question of the conservation of energy and heating in homes. One of the most important things to keep older people in their homes for as long as possible is to make their homes as energy efficient as possible. I welcome the schemes that the SEAI have and the community groups. I know that in my county, in Dunleer, for example, people sign up for a scheme and it is ensured that their energy needs are met. Notwithstanding everything else, will the witnesses comment on that? What priority are they giving to that? Is there any survey done of the energy deficiencies, if any, in local authority estates? The older people are, the more likely they are to have been living in their home when the area was built. There is a significant deficit in older homes. How do the witnesses propose to address that?

I refer also to people who suffer from dementia. That is a big problem that I find locally. If one of the people living in a home suffers from dementia, the changes that have to take place, which I know are done through the housing adaptation grant in some cases, concern downstairs facilities such as toilet and shower facilities, and there is the expectation that might be done more quickly. While I welcome the increase of 11% in the housing adaptation grants, the problem is at the local authority end of the business. Some local authorities do not provide matching funding or enough matching funding in many cases to meet the demands in their communities.

I the architects, I think it was, mentioned two or three counties where a proportion of people who are older live for whatever reason, perhaps due to emigration etc. Can we match up actual need to the moneys that are there? Is there an index of age related residents and the housing adaptation grants for those counties? There are inequalities in different counties. I mentioned that County Louth did not provide the matching funding two years ago because of the county council's debt. In discussions with the Deportment of Housing, Planning and Local Government last year there was a significant increase in the availability of money. Once the need is identified, should there not just be a one-stop shop, be it the Department or the local authority, rather than having matching funds? Unfortunately, it mitigates against people when they cannot get the grant and they have to live for a year with a significant disability with no action being taken because the council has not applied for the funding or does not have enough matching funding to meet their needs.

The key thing for me is the Department of Health and keeping people out of long-term care. More than 22,000 people live in long-term care. Many of those, I believe, should be living at home. They are not living at home because the facilities and community network are not there. In respect of proposals and research, I refer to the Great Northern Haven in Dundalk where a lot more technology is being put in. Obviously, that is a new build. The technology helps people when they get out of bed at night, when the light goes on in the bathroom, when they are reminded that water is spilling out of the basin or whatever.

When they leave the window open in the middle of winter, they know it is open. How much of that technology is in our plans? How can it be adapted and what key elements can be put into existing homes? Not everybody will be able to move into a state-of-the-art home right now.

Local authorities had a policy in the past of building perhaps 200 houses in the community that might be some distance from town centres, shops and facilities. There might be six, seven or eight older persons' dwellings, OPDs, in an area where they are squeezed in and very badly placed. They are often subject to vandalism and the actions of young people who might be out of control and causing problems for people in those sorts of neighbourhoods. I support mixed residential areas but the problem is having OPDs far away from facilities. I agree with the analysis by the architect who spoke about building in existing infill sites in the centre of towns or cities. We should maximise that and zone such areas specifically for older people's residences. Nobody else should be allowed to use those sites for any activity. There would be connectivity with nearby shops and services. I welcome the advances that are being made but we are not doing enough. I welcome the reports and preparation to deal with the issues identified by other speakers.

I am seeing increasing examples of dementia in my community and there is a lack of ability of family members to cater for those who are affected. This is an illness that brings significant problems for people living in housing on their own. I have met families where a person with dementia is mobile 24-7 in a house. The person is up and down the stairs and usually never rests, so the families are exhausted in trying to look after that person. I say this to the architects more than anybody else. Is this an issue? Are there dementia-friendly environments so we can adapt homes to make them more accessible? When a diagnosis is given, there should be a fast track for people to change their downstairs bathrooms, for example, or whatever they will need. There should be adjustments to the home to help the other people living in the house to care for the affected person. I would not underestimate the importance of what I am saying about dementia. I do not know if other public representatives have the same findings but I am finding increasing instances of it. When I speak to older people they mention that there are not as many heart attacks as there have been, cancer remains a big killer but, more frequently, dementia is coming up. I will leave it with the witnesses.