Séamus McGrath (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

At the outset, if I may, I will mark the passing of Councillor Patrick Gerard Murphy from Cork. I served with Councillor Murphy for 17 years on Cork County Council. He was a great friend and colleague. His untimely passing is dreadfully sad for his family, friends and community. I wanted to add my voice to condolences here, and I thank the Ceann Comhairle.

I thank the Taoiseach for his update on the housing subcommittee and the housing plan. Downsizing options for people are a critical issue and come up quite a lot on the doorsteps. I hope there will be additional policy in the new, updated plan to provide additional downsizing options for people, whether that is a rightsizing scheme such as that run by Cork City Council being rolled out further across the country or suitable retirement-type, single-storey housing being provided for people. Obviously, downsizing needs to be on a voluntary basis and entirely up to the individual, but many people whose incomes have reduced find themselves living in larger properties that were traditionally family homes with additional running and maintenance costs. These people want options but, unfortunately, they are not there at present. I think this has to be a core element of the new housing plan. I ask the Taoiseach to please take that back to the committee and work on it as part of the upcoming plan.

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