Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 9 Nov 1993

Vol. 435 No. 6

Ceisteanna — Questions Written Answers. - Care of the Elderly.

John Bruton

Ceist:

93 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Northern Ireland Department of Health has set itself a quantified target of increasing the proportion of people aged 75 or over who are able to care for themselves in their own homes from 82 per cent to 88 per cent; and the plans, if any, he has to introduce a similar target for health provision here so as to provide an adequate focus for policy in this area of public expenditure.

Minister for Health (Mr. Howlin)

This Government is committed to ensuring that elderly people receive the highest quality of health care available. The objectives of health policy are set out in the report "The Years Ahead — a Policy for the Elderly". Under the Programme for a Partnership Government we will be developing a health service of the highest quality so that people, particularly the elderly, can be confident that they will be well looked after should they need medical care.

There are 162,848 people in Ireland aged 75 and over. Of this number, 15,062 reside in health board geriatric hospitals and homes, psychiatric hospitals and in voluntary and private nursing homes. This number represents 9.2 per cent of the total population aged 75 years and over. In other words 90.8 per cent of those over 75 are living in the community, a figure which is better than the Northern Ireland target.