Mr. Mervyn Taylor:

On hoarding, ALONE very often refers complex issues of advocacy to us. We also refer complex issues of hoarding to ALONE. One point the committee might like to know is that the safeguarding policy of the HSE does not address self-neglect because it does not see it as in any way related to safeguarding. It says this is to do with resourcing. In fact, there are some ideological problems in the professions. It is a fact that at the moment self-neglect and related issues of hoarding are outside of the HSE. It is refusing to deal with those issues. That is not a matter of policy; it is a policy not have a policy with regard to that. I want to stress that point.

I wish to make another observation before handing over to others. Deputy Lahart referred to the Spanish flu, Stacking the Coffinsand how quickly we can forget. Some of it is there in folk memory, but we need to have something more positive rather than a blame game in regard to Covid.

I think what we need to see is some more world-class demonstrator projects, with the best of architecture and social design, which are around housing with support for older people and younger people - intergenerational - but also new models of congregated care, which are there and being worked on, such as in the household model. For example, if we had had some of the household models, we could have had different outcomes in respect of congregated care because we could have had households of around ten or 12 people but the care could have been provided across campus. People could have been able to visit at doors. The isolation would not have been for everybody because a few people had been infected. I am not interested in lots more inquiries. The Government will have one, which is fine. I would really like us to have demonstrator projects that show people how we can live in older age safely. One of the problems is that the HSE inherited and is the one with 20% of the provision, which very often comprises Famine-era buildings. A number of those buildings are worth a lot of money. In many ways Ireland does not know what good looks like and we need to have some of those demonstrator projects with a really good budget behind them and a world-class architecture and great design. All those ideas are there and have been worked on, and the household model has been worked on, yet it will not get support generally within the HSE. The public have to know that we actually can do these things and we need to be proud of them. That is my point.