Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

In the event that Senator John Paul Phelan is not aware of it, the late former President and Taoiseach, Eamon de Valera, spoke about a family's house — it would probably have been big because there would have been many children — being left to the oldest child and a smaller house built alongside it into which the parents could move. That was a type of mobility and trading down. This is why I have some sympathy for Senator John Paul Phelan. It is difficult to know whether what the Senator said will happen. Older people are naturally attached to their homes, localities and communities and there may not be a massive amount of mobility. However, it is important there is a degree of mobility.

I was interested in an article Moore McDowell wrote in respect of a Fine Gael proposal on introducing a new form of SSIA to assist first-time buyers. This is a good idea because the entire SSIA concept has been extremely successful and people's SSIAs will mature this year and next. I am concerned, however, that this might emerge as being similar to what happened in respect of the first-time buyer's grant where, unfortunately, developers added on a commensurate amount to the price of houses. That did not help young people——