Ms Sarah Neary:

That applies to the apartment block. It applies immediately and we are already seeing it come on line because it is more affordable too.

This is a good thing in terms of this debate about downsizing. It provides choice for people.

The other aspect, and Ms Hurley mentioned it in regard to the urban renewal side, is that we now have vacant housing officers in the local authority with vacant housing plans. They are doing surveys on who owns the units and on how we can bring them back into use. These are ideal for the step-down situation, or where people want to move, but within their community. In regard to the statistic of 89%, I believe that is more about staying in a community rather than in the specific accommodation people are in at the moment.

We are doing work on guidance in terms of making it as efficient and as economical as possible to bring forward those vacant existing units. We hope to see more of those units will be brought back into use, which will be particularly good for the demographic we are talking about at the moment.