Mr. Pat Healy:

I wanted to respond to the points made by Senators John Dolan and Colm Burke on the issue of planning. Senator Burke raised the issue of respite, and as the Minister of State, Deputy McGrath, has said, we set out in the note the specific increases for COPE, plus some of the losses of beds due to HIQA compliance. On the specific planning data he referenced, while we do not have them for the Cork area, we do have them nationally. Looking at the age profile, the recent Health Research Board, HRB, report which informs our contribution to the Estimates process and so on would indicate that 49% of people currently registered are 35 years of age or older, which clearly has implications for planning, particularly with the ageing issues in some of the cohort of that population.

On respite, at a national level, approximately 90% of those waiting for respite live at home. That is important. We have identified just over 2,000 places nationally, and 400 a year are looking for respite care. As Deputy McGrath said, we came up with an innovative approach this year in terms of new in-home respite to deal especially with emergency cases because there is a greater level of need there, and we are prioritising that in the current share.

The broader figures of need have recently been identified based on the 2016 figures with a five-year horizon. All that would fit in. There are roughly 500 new residential places a year for the next five years, and around 400 a year for change of needs. That is an indication. We have many other figures concerning day care and education and training, and all those will be used to inform our consideration of Estimates for 2018.