Ms Corona Joyce:

I thank the Deputy for raising many of the issues which are coming up, particularly in terms of our client work, on the phone and from meeting our members. One thing that came to mind when listening to the Deputy is that there is a lot of fear and anticipation from people who are nowhere close to needing any of these resources. They are mindful and are raising this as a priority issue well in advance of their need for it. That cannot be overstated enough in terms of saying that because there is not clarity there. Given that there is not uniform application of the various grants and because the homes that are being built are not age-friendly, this is a real and present issue for people who are ten or 20 years off.

We will come back to the Deputy with our top five recommendations. We will certainly recommend that all new builds should have age-friendly design.

Perhaps my colleague would like to take the question on whether local authorities are prioritising older people in terms of their vulnerability, particularly as we are hearing the other side of that as an issue.