Mr. Seán Moynihan:

The Chair’s point is well made. Sometimes we are almost caught between centralising and decentralising. I do not know if it is still true but at one stage I was involved in something and we had case studies and so on. To get a set of grab rails, there were two different systems in County Meath alone. For grants, there are 31 local authorities. We get caught where people say they want to empower people to make local decisions but then there could be 31 different sets of variations on who gets what and how. We are a relatively small country. In some ways, we do not have strong views on the politics of that but it is about systems. Usually when we purchase a service, the system is designed to our needs. In some ways, that is all we are asking for here and that the system is designed for the older person’s need. What can be delegated locally, where it works for the older person, should be delegated locally and what does not serve that need should be prescribed by the relevant Department.