Mr. John O'Mahony:

Part M and the disabilities access certificates go a long way. Within the private sector housing developers want to identify the widest market possible. Nowadays wetrooms, low profile and accessible showers are becoming almost standard elements of the interior design of apartments. There is also wheelchair accessibility. There has been a huge improvement. Retrofitting is the area that really needs investment, when we consider the number of houses that are not adaptable. That is why the Abhaile project which won the award last year was very interesting. It was predicated on the simple idea that a typical three-bedroom semi-detached house, that one could walk around blindfold in most parts of the country, could be adapted to two units which could create an income for an older person whose only asset was their home. It allows for an element of community because there is contact with the other person in the house, produces an income and allows for adapting access to the house. The cost is €50,000. Grant-aiding that work would be of huge benefit.

If a person is on a limited income even €50,000 it is going to be tricky. Perhaps a way could be identified of grant aiding that element of it. When the €14,000 tax-free income that is allowed for renting a room is taken into account, suddenly it starts to look like a very attractive option. That also helps to increase the density in our suburbs in a very simple way. Mr. Tynan will refer to exemplars, and I keep going back to the big picture. We have been warned now and we know it is coming. We know that by 2050, Ireland could have a population of 6.5 million people, 25% of whom will be a huge demographic of 65 year olds.

When we as architects identify density, it is units per hectare. This is a blunt instrument because units per hectare does not mean anything, it does not look at the demographic and it does not define the real housing need. With private development especially, we have to start forcing the issue that it is not suitable just to provide family houses in a development. It may not suit the demographic. Developers must do demographic studies. We do this for retail and other elements when we apply for planning permissions. We should look carefully at who we are building for and if it satisfies the demographic in the area. Is a suburb with predominantly three and four bedroom apartments a sustainable way of developing housing? It probably is not. The issue can be forced and the densities can be forced to increase so that appropriate housing can be provided that is more suited to starter homes and older people as well as families. This leads to the issue of family-sized apartments. The solution lies in higher density development. The vision, the look, the scale and the size are going to be completely different. As architects we can demonstrate this and show what it is going to be like. In some respects it can be very advantageous and a much more well-adapted suburb with better and more high-use facilities. It can keep the population close.