Mr. Se?n Moynihan:

On the integration of services, to take some positives, we welcome the likes of enhanced community care. in which there is an assessment to move more services in the community. In that area, we probably need to ensure it is given the time to mature. Sometimes, with these things, we set them up and then ten minutes later, if the trolley count does not go down, we go back to the way things were. We need time in that area.

We work closely with the Alliance of Age Sector NGOs, a group of around seven or eight other national age charities. We have also been examining a commissioner for older people, like an ombudsman for older people. Perhaps part of the committee's report could consider that. We have all outlined that while there is an awful of policy and strategy and very intelligent people have produced research and reports to show us the pathways, sometimes it is hard to hold us accountable and hold a Government or Departments accountable to move forward. That has been quite successful in Northern Ireland, for example. We can learn from our close neighbours in that regard.

We have one final point on integration. The way we think about it is in the case of somebody who needs home care support. We work with the Home Care Coalition, which is 23 agencies across the life course. If you need support to age at home, does your age really matter? That is the reality. If you have a housing need, does your age really matter? If you have a financial need, this is the reality. Here today, on behalf of the wider age sector, we are trying to get an equality of approach across the whole. We sometimes look at old people through a lens whereby we may leave them out of some of these conversations about their needs and aspirations, such as around mental health, housing and other support issues.