Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 25 October 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Implementation of Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Daniel McLoughlin:

"Rightsizing" is the latest word. We used to call it downsizing, which became emotive. Every time a government mentioned it, it was as if we were suddenly forcing people out of their homes. It is really tricky. It must involve enabling an understanding and bringing people on the journey. We had a conversion earlier about why we are developing little clusters where people can look out the window and see them, so they do not feel threatened by the move. We have an officer working full-time with the age-friendly community to say what is in play, that they are just having a chat and that they are not forcing people to do anything but that they should think about. The officer will tell them what schemes are going to come up and that they are there if people want them and they will give them their number. That is where we are at. It is emotive. There is a delicate balance between having the conversation and being on the airwaves the next day defending the conversation because you are forcing people out of their homes. Nobody wants that.