Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I will try not to go over the same questions that have been asked.

I look forward to reading the long-term policy report that is due out in the summer. Realistically, in the intervening period all we have for older people is the housing adaptation grant or some funding from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI. Does the €66 million come from the Department or from the Department and local authorities?

Sometimes there is a need for flexibility in the schemes. I refer to a specific SEAI scheme. An elderly couple in their 80s have come to my office on a nearly monthly basis to see if there are upgrades available. As they live in a terraced house, they do not qualify for the wraparound insulation scheme, even though they should. There is no flexibility in any scheme to allow this to happen. Many older people do not even know that there are housing assistance grants for older people available. I do not know how we get to the people who need these grants and are not aware that they are available to them.

Reference was made last week to universal design. The potential cost of having a universal design for a new build is an additional 3%. What element of Part M would the delegates change in the building regulations? I am aware that it is very trendy to have wetrooms and that everybody is putting them in. We must all have a walk-in, if not a drive-in, shower, yet they are the very things older people need. Is it fair to say we should incorporate this feature into Part M of the building regulations?

A statement was made that 85% of us wanted to stay at home when we were older. I can understand that. Deputy Darragh O'Brien made the point well when he said it was because there was no alternative for us. The only option is to stay at home. People also want to live in communities. If we were to provide the right community and the right facilities within it, people might be willing to downsize or move out. They would not see it as a negative. In County Wicklow in the 1980s we looked at this matter more than we do now. Carnew Community Care centre provides 28 homes with independent living. There is also a day care centre attached to the facility. Crinion Park was built in Wicklow town beside the old health board building. Back then we were planning for older people better than we do now. People living in these areas want to move into such facilities when they see how well they actually work. They do not see a move into them as a negative. We could do more in that regard.

I might come back in to make one or two more points later.