Mr. Paul O'Hara:

Another model is called SIEL Bleu which is the first experimental model that we imported from France a few years ago. It provides adapted physical exercise for older people in order to keep them fit and healthy and out of the health care system. Recently McKinsey conducted a study of it. In France 50,000 older people use it every week which saves the French Government €3 billion every year simply by keeping people out of its health care system. The model has been run in Ireland for the past couple of years and provides four full-time and eight part-time jobs. It has great scaling potential. It is already in 30 centres around Ireland and serves 1,000 older people every week. The model is already providing a saving for the health care system. It is just a small investment but it is one that is ready for growth finance that could drive employment and reduce costs for the health care system.

Another model that is linked to the North of Ireland is called Routes of Empathy which originated in Canada. It is proven to reduce aggression, violence and disruption and increases kindness and compassion, etc., in young people. Nearly every school in Canada runs the programme and it arrived in Ireland in the past couple of years. Finance is provided by a combination of the Government, the HSE in the northwest, the health board in the North of Ireland, Unilever, some private philanthropists and the EU. A mixture of finance is used. The scheme now operates in 160 schools across the island of Ireland. The model is key to the restorative process in the North and is an example of one solution. The scheme already employs people. It is mainly volunteer-driven but there are permanent jobs. The model is ready to go to scale across thousands of schools.

Every young person has to master empathy. These are ideas that are solving key problems. They are reducing costs in the system and they are creating jobs. They are all ready to scale. I could list another 30 that are ready to scale. The demand is really strong. There are many great solutions but the key thing is that we need to get out and sell this to see what is out there for it.