Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like Deputy Heydon, I think this is a very good scheme for both rural and urban Ireland. People are living for longer and they want to stay at home. The only way that they can stay at home is if they know that they will be secure and safe in their home. There is not enough promotion of these brilliant schemes. The Minister has done a good job of announcing the financing in the last couple of years. There needs to be more promotion in this area. I might have heard the Minister wrongly with regard to the figures that he mentioned. Was there €7 million last year and €2 million already this year? He might clarify those figures for me. It would be a big difference if that was the case. We need to see more of these schemes around the country. In my part of the world, Muintir na Tíre and community alerts do a lot of work in that regard. They need to be sure that they will have funding to make sure that when they go to the community, people will be able to have one of these units to ensure that they are safe in the future.

See this speech in context