Ms Caren Gallagher:

On the issue of housing for the elderly, the scheme the Deputy mentioned in Barrack Street, the Great Northern Haven, is just one example of the type of scheme that is unique in terms of the technology installed. That is one of many schemes throughout towns, villages and parishes that are run by voluntary boards and linked in with the wider community services. As Mr. O'Brien said earlier, those people who were housed were either off the waiting list or included in the 25% mentioned by Deputy Harty. That gave some housing associations the scope to house some people within the scheme who may not have qualified for social housing in the traditional sense. A person may have had an asset such as land but may have lived in very poor conditions. That is the scope that has enabled these schemes to work.

In terms of beyond the bricks and mortar, what has happened in the past is that the community supports to the tenants in those schemes are provided either by volunteers or the wider community and the housing association has primarily absorbed that cost. As people in the scheme are ageing and may have gone in aged 65, the additional care and support they require is becoming a bigger issue. They may not need medical or nursing care but a housing related support, as mentioned by Mr. O'Brien, in terms of the assisted independent living scheme for which we are calling. That type of support will allow those people to age in place in their communities and avoid residential or nursing care until the time comes when it is essential to access that.

This is one of the niche areas in terms of what makes the sector unique - the specialism around housing for older people, people with disabilities and provision for people who are homeless, and the additional supports around that.