Earlier this week I raised with the Taoiseach the desperate case of Micheline Walsh and her husband, who are in their late 70s and facing eviction. I said then they were not alone and, very sadly, today we see a report from Alone and Threshold on older and ageing persons in the private rental sector. The report notes 40% of older people who are now renting expect to have to continue renting in the private market for the rest of their lives. Many of them are reporting high stress as a result of the housing insecurity they are experiencing as renters. These are the hidden victims of the housing crisis. These are people - pensioners - who have worked all their lives and contributed to society in innumerable ways and are supposed to be able to enjoy retirement in peace and security. Instead, older people are faced with the constant stress of housing insecurity, which we all know has a detrimental effect on health. Many older people are forced to move prematurely into nursing homes and are denied their right to live independently by the chronic shortage of homes.

Time and time again the struggles of older people and their situation are ignored by society and the State. Our entire housing and pension system has for far too long relied on the assumption people aged over 65 years will have paid off their mortgages, own their own homes and will not be renting. As Minister for Finance, the Minister will be aware the non-contributory State pension assumes this. It sits at a meagre €13,000 per year. Even with the housing assistance payment, HAP, how could anyone be expected to pay a mortgage or for private rented accommodation on that income? Our pension system is totally unfit for purpose when so many people aged over 65 years, and people who will soon be aged over 65 years, face having to rent into the future in a situation where rents have been allowed inflate so rapidly.

The housing policy of the Minister's Government does not support those who are most vulnerable and most in need of its support. The figure for people expecting to rent into pension age will only rise. Our population is ageing rapidly, and with the chronic housing shortage, the many generations locked out of homeownership will need a more sophisticated pension system to cope with the rising cost of housing. This is the ticking time bomb of the housing crisis. As Minister for Finance, the Minister will be aware of this. I am increasingly hearing, as we all are, from people in their 40s and 50s who are still renting long after they thought they would be able to afford to buy their own home. We all know that thousands of people in their 20s and 30s, the youngest generation now adults, have already accepted they have no prospect of owning their own home. They do not see any prospect of being able to do so.

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage stated the research published today would "help inform our policies and target our housing actions further", as if this problem had appeared out of thin air and was not a result of two successive Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil Governments. It is a disgrace the problem has been allowed get so bad and that we have waited until we have 12,000 people homeless, including 175 people aged over 65 years in emergency accommodation, before we see specific action for the elderly.

Will the Minister commit to reimagining our pension system to ensure no one needs to live in poverty during their retirement and to reinstate the eviction ban so older people in particular who are renting will at least not experience the insecurity they are facing in so many ways?

I thank the Deputy. As she knows, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is going to launch this report later today with Threshold and Alone. That reflects the seriousness with which the Government treats this issue. The Minister will, of course, consider the findings of the report, which is a research report. It provides us with more information. That helps inform policymaking and allows us as a Government to plan and prepare for the future, but it is a reminder of a number of fundamental truths. We have an ageing population. The number of people aged 65 years and over is going to double over the coming decade or so. At the moment, there are about four people of working age for everybody of pension age, and in the coming decades that ratio will halve to 2:1. That has implications for pension provision, the cost of healthcare, the cost of home care, and so on. It is why we need to plan and prepare for the future. As well as seeking to address the immediate needs, and there are many acute immediate needs, we must also make financial provision to meet the age-related costs we know are coming our way.

It is an undeniable fact that those who are in a position to buy their first home are doing so at an older age than before and there are more pensioners renting than there were in the past. We understand that the added difficulty, concern and anxiety the insecurity of being a tenant can sometimes bring are even greater for those who are of pension age. That is an understandable fact. It is why the Government has made, will continue to make and will step up significant investment in the delivery of age-friendly housing through our local authorities and the approved housing bodies. We have some fantastic examples all over the country of retirement villages where there are shared services and people can live close to an urban centre and be part of a community with access to facilities and services. We need far more of that to be developed over the period ahead.

The Deputy might want to clarify what she means in relation to pensions and what she is asking for in terms of pension policy. This Government and previous governments have always recognised the extra costs many older people face and have sought to reflect that in the decisions we have made when it comes to pension supports and secondary benefits. This report is focused on older people who are renting. We acknowledge the challenge and concern that is there. It is a reminder to all of us of the need to continue to make progress in the supply of all forms of housing, especially public housing. This Government will double down on the delivery of more public housing into the future because that is where the solution ultimately lies. We will continue to support people in this circumstance through HAP and so on, but we know that for older people that does not give them the security of tenure and peace of mind they want to have as they move into older age.

I thank the Minister for the response. I commend the authors of the report from Threshold and Alone, because they have shone a spotlight on what is, as the Minister has acknowledged, a problem we are going to see increasing with an ageing population and the ticking time bomb resulting from the chronic housing shortage. However, the Minister's Government needs to do something about this. Once again we are hearing a lack of urgency from the Minister when it comes to actions. On pensions, we have called for them to be indexed to the rate of inflation. On insecurity of housing for persons renting into older age, what the Government can do is stabilise the rental sector and make it a viable option for people to live in long-term. Across Europe, older people live in the rental sector long-term in peace, in full security and without the prospect of eviction. That is the difference here. Not only are people unable to afford to pay rents given the level of pension we have currently, but there is also the insecurity of facing a situation where evictions are permitted again. That is before we get into the huge difficulties experienced by so many in trying to find alternative accommodation when they have been evicted. It is very difficult and especially for older persons, those who might not have access to the Internet and those forced to queue down the block for accommodation. There is such a shortage.

I thank the Deputy. I want to give assurance that, especially when it comes to older people served with an eviction notice, we will move heaven and earth to help them and find a solution.

Whether it be through our local authorities or approved housing bodies or the interventions we are supporting at a national level, we will help people and we will find solutions. We will not allow older people to be in that situation. That does not remove the stress felt when an eviction notice is served on them, which I recognise. As a State, we have a good record of treating older people with dignity and respect and we will support them and find solutions in those individual cases where these issues arise. There is a wider systemic issue and it is about us ensuring we meet the demand and the needs that are undoubtedly there and that will grow in the future. As the Deputy knows, when it comes to pension decisions and so on, those will be considered in the context of a budget in the coming months.