Vol. 506 No. 2
238 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Health and Children if he has satisfied himself that adequate facilities are available for the elderly who can no longer be cared for at home; and the number of hospital and other beds that are available for the elderly who find themselves in this situation. [14949/99]
Economic and social progress and improved health services have combined to reduce premature mortality. The Government recognises the challenge to the health services of a rapid increase in the population of older people. The care of older people is clearly going to be one of the key issues to be addressed by the health services in the next decade. The challenge is to reorganise existing services and develop new services, to ensure that older people get the most effective care available.
At present, about 11 per cent of the population are aged 65 years and over. The latest projections prepared for the National Council on Ageing and Older People indicate that the older population will grow by almost 108,000 persons in the period 1996-2011 and will represent 14.1 per cent of the general population in the year 2011. These projections also indicate that the proportion of the older population aged over 80 years or more will increase from 21.9 per cent to 24.9 per cent over the same period, in the region of an additional 40,000 persons over 80 years. This will have major policy implications, as those aged over 80 have by far the greatest health and social care needs.
It is a priority of this Government to provide a high quality of hospital and residential care for older people when they can no longer be maintained in dignity and independence at home. There are approximately 11,000 long stay beds and approximately 12,000 private nursing home beds in the country. I have taken a number of measures to increase the number of long stay places for older people. I doubled the capital allocation to services for older people, from £7 million in 1997 to £14 million in 1998. New community nursing units are under construction at locations such as Achill and Killybegs. The 1999 budget allocation for older people included a sum of £1.45 million which will enable a new 50-bed community nursing unit at St Clare's, Ballymun, to be opened this year, together with a new 27-bed unit in Clonmel. Under the current capital programme, new nursing units are being constructed or planned for a number of areas and will provide additional beds over the next few years.
In addition, the Health (Nursing Homes) Act permits health boards to contract beds in private nursing homes, and to pay more than the maximum rates of subvention in such cases. This is to facilitate health boards, which do not have sufficient accommodation in their hospitals and homes to meet the needs of those requiring nursing care. Additional funding has been allocated to health boards to meet, inter alia, increased demand for nursing home subventions and the additional costs arising from increased dependency levels.
The Deputy will be aware that my colleague, the Minister for Finance introduced a scheme of capital allowances for nursing homes in the Finance Act, 1998. The purpose of this is designed to encourage investment in the private nursing home sector, in view of the potential change in demographics indicating that nursing home services will be more and more in demand in the years ahead.
