Mr. Rodd Bond:

To pick up on Deputy Casey's comment, bending and tolerance are issues we have to be conscious of. Sometimes our rules and regulations become so tight that they do not allow flexibility . One of the real shames is that, in many instances, home adaptation does not add value to the house and when the house goes back on the market, the first thing that happens is that all the stuff is brought back out of it again. That is a measure of failure in regard to our design, so we need some tolerance around what is appropriate in the context of building.

There was a question around bringing the Great Northern Haven into being. While I am not sure it is appropriate, I would like to extend an invitation to the committee to come to Dundalk, if it makes sense at any point. In terms of timing, the building went to tender at the very peak of the construction period in 2007, construction started in 2008 and people moved in at the beginning of 2010. We have to recognise that was a different time as it was just pre-boom and bust, and we also have to recognise the contribution of Atlantic Philanthropies, which helped to address some of the incremental costs that might have delayed decision making around the kind of project we did if that additional resource was not there. That type of funding is not in play now.

One of the things that was central was local leadership in regard to driving it through. We have talked before about characteristics such as location and brownfield sites. For us, this was very important as they are two bedroom facilities, with a focus on autonomous living, but done in such a way that the apartments are clustered close together, which addresses many of the concerns.

In regard to how we might bring forward age-friendly standards, it is important for us not to be too prescriptive around the boundaries. If we were able to bring in some key principles and values, and some goal-based dimensions, that could allow the creativity and innovation of designers to respond to it without being constrained by too much red tape.