Vol. 535 No. 2
167 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of full-time equivalent home helps in each health board region per 1,000 elderly population for 1970 to 2001, or such statistics which are available. [12540/01]
The information sought by the Deputy is not available in my Department. I have asked the chief executive officers of the health boards and the Eastern Regional Health Authority to reply directly to the Deputy, providing the information sought, as a matter of urgency.
168 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Health and Children the recommendations of The Years Ahead: A Policy for the Elderly, 1988 which have been implemented to date; the outstanding recommendations; if implementation of the recommendations is being monitored; if health boards are adhering to the model outlined in this report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12541/01]
The report of the working party of services for the elderly entitled, The Years Ahead – A Policy for the Elderly, was published in 1988. The principal recommendations of the report which still guide the development of services were as follows: to maintain older people in dignity and independence at home; to restore to independence at home those older people who have become ill or dependent; to encourage and support the care of older people in their own community by family, neighbours and voluntary bodies in every way possible; and 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.
169 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of those aged over 65 in each health board area as a percentage of total population and as a percentage of the labour force from 1970 to date. [12542/01]
The information is currently being compiled for the Deputy and will be forwarded within the week.
