Séamus McGrath (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Agreed. I thank the Minister. I have two final questions. Housing was obviously a major issue during the election, but one of the issues that came up a lot was housing for the elderly and appropriate options being available for people who want to downsize from traditional family homes with three or four bedrooms to something suitable. Many people told me they would be open to it, but the options simply are not there. What can the Department or we as a Government do to ensure we have more options available to elderly people who want to downsize? Is there scope within the national planning framework to make some provision for that issue? Prioritising housing for the elderly is something I tried to do at a county development plan level previously. I am wondering if it is something the Department could look at in the context of the upcoming proposals.

The second question is on the first home scheme. I acknowledge there haves been some increases in the minimum value of properties in relation to that recently. Unfortunately, there is still a difficulty with that. There were no changes in Cork city in terms of the house value. It increased in the county, but in many cases new properties are over the limit and the scheme is no longer workable. This is a critically important scheme. I saw in recent days over 3,700 properties were purchased through this scheme. It has enabled first-time buyers to get on the ladder. I am aware of the difficulties with this. The Minister does not want to increase house prices by increasing the limits and I understand that argument, but the scheme has been a good one. If it is no longer workable we have to look at that and come up with some measures. I will leave it at that.