Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State very much for that response. I agree with the points made by Deputy Naughten about using similar rules to the Department of Social Protection. It also crossed my mind that there is an incredible contrast in the approach to rental income for people in nursing homes and the treatment of rental income for investment funds. We need to get our priorities right in that regard. There is, therefore, an element of small-mindedness about this and about going after every euro that a person earns. That needs to be removed because we need to consider the bigger picture.

I welcome what the Minister of State said about the sale of houses. It is disappointing, though, that she will not have anything ready with regard to rental income. That is actually an easier issue to address. I am not sure that the Minister of State's concerns about people coming under pressure to go into nursing homes are well founded given the fact there are tests in that regard as it is. I do not believe there is any issue about those; they work fairly well. If people are in nursing homes who should not be there, it is much more likely to be down to the fact that funding was not provided for home care. Anyway, there are tests and they stand up reasonably well.

In light of what the Minister of State said, I am happy to withdraw the amendment now on the basis of expecting an update from her when we come back to deal with Report Stage of this Bill. I will consider whether I will retable that amendment with a shorter timescale in terms of getting a report, at a very minimum. This issue has gone on for years on end and we need to see action very soon. On that basis, therefore, I will maintain my right to retable a similar amendment on Report Stage but today I will withdraw that amendment.