Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman. I do not mind waiting until the end because the discussion has been very interesting.

I appreciate that part of Ms Hurley and Ms Spillane's job is to present the best possible picture of what their Departments are doing. I am also aware that they are extremely limited by resources. The reality, however, for many older people in almost all of our constituencies is very different from what the delegates have presented. Part of the problem is - a little like the position in the provision of accommodation for Travellers and people with disabilities - that older people are left as a peripheral element of the discussion. The fact that two years into the term of the committee we are only having these dedicated discussions thanks to the Chairman's initiative shows that, as a committee, we are as guilty of not fully integrating the issue into the overall discussion on housing policy as the local authorities and the Departments.

The fact that Focus Ireland had to launch a campaign last week highlighting a 40% increase in older persons' homelessness proves that point. Probably more shocking than the 40% increase is that we are only talking about 119 people. The idea that we cannot find housing solutions quickly for those 119 people is probably more of a scandal than the fact that it has increased by 40%.

The Chair's proposal that we have these hearings and prepare this report is timely. As social and private housing delivery ramps up, albeit not as fast as I would like but at least it is moving in the right direction, now is the time for us to put in some more substantive solutions and get it right to ensure we are not here in a decade's time or more having the same conversations.

I direct my questions, first, to Ms Frances Spillane of the Department of Health. Will she elaborate on the funding for home care teams both in terms of total allocation of funding and funding versus the demand? We all know there are very significant demands that are not being met. Does she have figures for the number of delayed discharges that are a result of the lack of sufficient home care packages? Those figures would be interesting. Will she indicate, from the HSE and the Department of Health's budget, cost comparisons between nursing home settings versus supported housing? I presume supported housing, in terms of year costs, are significantly cheaper. If she has figures on that, I would appreciate them.

I am not convinced there is very much co-ordination at local authority, HSE and community care regional level in the way we manage the bricks and mortar element, the community element that the local authority does, and the care packages and support for independent living for older people. Are there protocols in place.? How do we ensure at a departmental level that whatever the policy is at the macro level, it is feeding down to the practice on the ground?