Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Burke for raising this important matter. I know his keen interest in this area. I welcome the ESRI report on future capacity requirements in older people's care, which was published on 30 June and encompasses residential care for older people and home support. The analysis in the ESRI report utilises the Hippocrates model to update baseline estimates of demand in 2022 for residential care, both long term and short term, and projects demand and capacity for these services out to 2040. The ESRI report projects that the number of residential beds, both long term and short term, will need to increase by at least 60% by 2040. The Deputy referred to the findings of the ESRI report too. The research was funded by the Department of Health and considers a range of scenarios based on varying assumptions about population growth and ageing, the effects of healthy ageing and policy choices. The ESRI's demand and capacity analysis will be invaluable in advancing evidence-based capacity planning that is responsive, agile and meets the needs of our older population over the coming years and decades.

People are living longer lives and the number of older people in the total population is growing. The success that has been achieved in improving health outcomes and extending life expectancy must be acknowledged and celebrated. However, we must also recognise the challenges we will face in a range of areas in the coming years as our population ages. The ESRI report sets out that we will need a substantial increase in long-term and short-term residential care capacity to meet the demands of our growing and ageing population.

The Government's long-standing strategic goal is to deliver a new model of integrated older persons' health and social care services across the care spectrum, supporting older people to remain living independently in their own homes and communities for longer, in line with the Sláintecare vision for receiving the right care, in the right place, at the right time. However, it is recognised that care provided in long-term residential care settings for older people will continue to be an important part of the continuum of care for older people into the future. As Minister of State with responsibility for older people, I am very conscious of the importance of strengthening the capacity and resilience of our health system through the delivery of health and social care infrastructure. This Government is committed to continued investment in healthcare infrastructure that supports the highest quality care for our older population.

This investment includes the community nursing unit programme, which was launched to ensure that up to 90 of our public community nursing units and community hospitals would be refurbished or replaced to ensure the best quality environments for our older people, and to ensure HIQA compliance. A total of €4 million was allocated in budget 2025 to staff and open an additional 615 community beds this year in capital projects coming to fruition through this capital programme. The 2025 programme for Government also committed to build more public nursing home beds. The Department of Health, alongside the HSE, is developing a new long-term residential care additional capacity plan, which will be published in 2025. This is an absolute priority for me as Minister of State and for the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill.

As Deputy Burke will be aware, the Government established an independent Commission on Care for Older People in March 2024. The commission is charged with examining the provision of health and social care services and supports for older people, including residential care, and with making recommendations to the Government for their strategic development. I look forward to the first report of the commission, which will be published in the coming months. It is evident that significant further investment will be required by the Government to ensure that the appropriate care services are available for our older population and to deliver on the programme for Government, Sláintecare and Project Ireland 2040 commitments. I am absolutely committed to ensuring that this capacity planning is advanced in 2025.

See this speech in context