Mr. Aidan O'Connor:

With regard to lifetime adaptable homes, part M of the building regulations deals with access for the disabled and visitable ground-floor WCs. It is the minimum standard. With regard to quality, the matter is covered in our quality housing design guidelines document, produced a number of years ago. It advises that the principles of lifetime adaptable homes should be applied to the design of new homes. It is a question of not creating barriers to future adaptation. One should have built-in strategies as to how to adapt when the time arises. The more adaptable the house, the better the design in many ways. A heavy design input is required.

The Department and the National Disability Authority have a strategy on working together on these issues. It is very much part of our focus.