Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To follow on from the Deputy's proposals, I raised the fair deal scheme with Deputy Coveney when he was Minister with responsibility for housing and with the previous Minister. There were a number of announcements that they were looking into it. Were the reports done and could we see the recommendations of those reports? As far as I am aware, the HSE requires 80% of the rental income for people to rent out their homes if they are in the fair deal scheme. That does not make any sense. It is a crazy situation. The problem is that Age Action Ireland told me there are 25,000 people in care homes who have homes that are empty. There are three in the terrace where I live on Cathedral Road. Three ladies are in care homes, my next-door neighbour being one of them. The beautiful house has been lying idle for years and the family cannot rent it out. The net curtains are pulled and the light switches are on timers . A number of Ministers with responsibility for housing said they were looking into the scheme and doing reports. We need them because there is a possibility of getting 25,000 houses out in the short term which would make a huge difference to the housing crisis.