Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 September 2020
91. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding financial assistance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25763/20]
View answerMy Department is committed to supporting older people to live in their own home with dignity and independence for as long as possible, as this has the best outcomes both for the individual and for society as a whole. To this end, my Department, in conjunction with the Department of Health, is developing policy options for supported housing/housing with care so that older people have a wider range of accommodation choices available to them in accordance with the principles of the joint policy statement, "Housing Options for Our Ageing Population". This policy statement was published by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and the Department of Health on 27th February 2019. The policy statement is available on my Department's website at:
https://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/special-housing-needs/older-people/housing-options-our-ageing-population-policy-statement
Flowing from the Policy Statement, an Inter-departmental/agency Implementation Group was established, including membership from the two Departments, the Health Service Executive, Local Authorities and other relevant stakeholders.
Action 4.5 of the policy statement outlines that the Implementation group will Introduce financial services and develop the provision of financial incentives to support older persons in both public and private housing to rightsize to more energy efficient and appropriate housing units.
A workshop with members of the Older People’s Council and a number of key stakeholders from the financial sector in Ireland to look at the potential financial barriers faced by older people during the rightsizing process and to collaboratively propose solutions to these barriers will be held shortly and a report outlining the recommendations will be provided to the Implementation group for consideration.
Action 4.7 outlines that the Implementation group will establish methods to incentivise older people in public and private housing to rightsize to appropriately sized units, if they choose to do so.
Arising from this action, my Department, working with the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service, undertook a survey of mature homeowners in August 2019. The survey explored the housing circumstances and attitudes of households composed of homeowners aged 55+ with a view to generating policy relevant findings. A focus of the survey was the attitude of mature homeowners toward seeking housing better suited to their circumstances (typically, trading down) or to relocate from areas of high demand to lower demand. A research paper presenting the principal findings of the survey will be published shortly. Consideration of the findings and any potential incentives that may enable downsizing where people choose to do so will follow.
Further research that explores older people's perceptions and experiences of rightsizing in both public and private housing is being conducted by Age Friendly Ireland on behalf of the Implementation Group. This research will be provided to the Implementation Group for review at its next meeting. It is intended that the Implementation Group will provide its final report addressing each of the 40 actions assigned to it by end 2020.
