asked the Minister for Health the numbers, so far as can be ascertained, of persons who have been living alone and who were found dead in 1984 and the comparable figure for 1980; and (a) if he will commission an investigation into the numbers of elderly people living alone, with particular emphasis on those with low incomes; the difficulties facing such people and specific proposals to deal with these problems, (b) if he will lay the results of the investigation before both Houses of the Oireachtas; and (c) if he will undertake to make the necessary funds available to implement such proposals.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Elderly People Living Alone.
3.
I regret that statistics are not compiled by the Department of Health, the Department of Justice or any other State agency giving the number of persons who had been living alone and were found dead in 1980 and 1984.
However, we do know that in 1981, 16,393 persons over the age of 65 who died were single or widowed. The majority of such persons died in hospitals, nursing homes or with relatives. Census figures indicate that there has been a significant increase in the numbers of elderly people living alone in the last decade. Projections indicate that this trend will continue. In many cases this is a reflection of increased prosperity and a wish for independence among the elderly population. Several bodies, including the National Council for the Aged, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the Economic and Social Research Institute have published studies of the situation of the elderly and have highlighted the problems faced by those elderly persons on low incomes who live alone. The National Council for the Aged have made recommendations on income maintenance of the elderly which are being examined by the Commission on Social Welfare. Health boards maintain registers of old people at risk who live alone to enable the public health nurses to give them priority.
In view of the information which is already available, I do not intend to establish a commission as suggested by the Deputy. My Department however, will be undertaking a review of services for the elderly which will examine, amongst other things, the adequacy of support services for old people living alone. The results of this review will be made widely available.
The Deputy will appreciate that I am not in a position to make any financial commitments until the recommendations of this review are available.
Surely the Minister's Department, or the Department of Justice to which he referred, would know the number of old people who were living alone and were found dead? I am surprised that that information is not available.
One cannot draw any particular conclusions from the number of persons, single or widowed over the age of 65, who died, because the vast majority of them died in hospitals, nursing homes or while being cared for separately by relatives. One is not in a position to collate the data in the manner the Deputy seeks. The Deputy seeks to know the number of persons living alone who were found dead. The vast bulk of such persons die in hospital care.
Would the Minister not agree that this is an area of increased concern, that some attempt will have to be made to ascertain the precise facts in regard to the elderly living alone who are at risk? That is what I am endeavouring to get at in this question. Some information as to what has happened in the last few years in that regard should be available to the House. Would the Minister consider again — not necessarily a commission as suggested — asking his Department to investigate this area as to the number of people living alone who have been found dead? It is an important area of investigation and one that has been neglected to date by all Departments.
I would not think there is any element of neglect in this regard. The statistical work has been undertaken comprehensively, for example, in the Economic and Social Circumstances of the Elderly in Ireland, a publication issued by the ESRI. There was a publication called Old and Alone by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul; there was a publication called Incomes of the Elderly in Ireland and The World of the Elderly — a Rural Experience published by the National Council for the Aged. These are recent publications. We have considerable data on the 60,000 single person households and the health boards at local level have a great deal of data on such persons.
What the Minister is saying is that we do not know how many elderly people died alone in their homes in this State.
It is not possible to know. In the register of certificates of death the social circumstances of the people who died are not recorded. The vast number of people living alone die in hospital, in nursing homes or in institutions for the elderly. Many people living alone go to live with relatives and die shortly afterwards. The number of incidents of persons who die alone with no assistance are known to the health boards but they are not officially recorded.
It is worth recording that information so that we know the numbers of elderly who die alone in their homes without proper attention.
Has the Minister got the health board figures?
Will the Minister accept that it should be possible to get this information through the health boards as these deaths would be reported to the coroner? It should be possible to get this information through the coroner. Will the Minister say when the National Council for the Aged made their recommendations about what should be done, and when the Minister intends to implement these recommendations?
I received the report in May of last year. The recommendations have been examined and some have been implemented, for example giving additional income eligibility for people over the age of 65 in respect of medical cards. I have reconstituted the National Council for the Aged and they are undertaking additional work in that area.
A final supplementary.
The Minister said that an example of one of the recommendations implemented was to increase the eligibility limit for medical cards for those over the age of 65. Surely the Minister accepts that two months after he came to office he was responsible for withdrawing medical cards from all old age pensioners over 65?
We are broadening the scope of the question.
I do not want to prolong the discussion but the Deputy's colleague, Deputy Michael Woods, took that decision in October 1982.
It did not come into effect——
The decision was taken by the Minister for Health of the Fianna Fáil administration.
The Minister implemented it in February 1983.