There are differing opinions on a newly-announced proposal by the housing minister to encourage elderly people in nursing care to rent out their homes.
The head of the country's rural resettlement organisation has described it as 'a non-runner', saying most nursing home residents hold onto the wish to return to their own place.
But a spokesperson for elderly persons' group Age Action says the rent would help some elderly people pay for their care.
Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has announced a number of actions to bring more vacant homes into use as quickly as possible to deal with the current housing crisis.
One of those actions calls for continued cooperation between his department and the Department of Health to explore how the terms of the Fair Deal scheme could be changed to allow the homes of those in nursing homes be used.
The proposal has been branded as an effort to encourage nursing home residents to become landlords.
But Seamus Boland of Irish Rural Link says there's a need to look at this proposal from the human point of view of the person in the nursing home.
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Mr Boland says returning home sometime is often the only hope that sustains a person in a nursing home.
He also thinks it sends out a wrong message to society about people in nursing homes.
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Justin Moran of Age Action Ireland, however, says the changes to the Fair Deal Scheme could work for some nursing homes residents.
He says the key issue here to ensure the wishes of the resident are respected:
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