Maria Bailey (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is a crucial policy as there will be 1.3 million people aged over 65 in the coming years. I would like to focus on the benefits. I feel Professor Barrett's pain in describing the reaction he got. I saw a programme recently where this was discussed and it was portrayed as older people being shoved from their homes. It is purely a choice that people do not currently have at the level that we should have. It is about independence, security and the financial burden of running a house when that person might only live in three rooms of a three-bedroom or four-bedroom house. It is not that we want the house but we want to give people security and offset the loneliness factor as well. If we can centralise it there may be some way to help with home help hours and the knock-on effect of medical care that will be required. It relates to independent or assisted living within a kilometre of a person's home or community. That is where we are going with this and I welcome Professor Barrett's comments.