Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, in furtherance of the commitment in the programme for Government, in October this year the Minister for Health and I sought the establishment of a commission on care and we got approval from the Cabinet. Subsequently, a budget of €1.24 million was allocated to support this important initiative. The commission will examine the provision of health and social care services and supports for older people and make recommendations to the Government for their strategic development. Subsequently, a cross-departmental group will be established under the auspices of the commission to consider whether the supports for positive ageing across the life course are fit for purpose and to develop a costed implementation plan. It is really important that we have this because we often see documentation that proposes many measures, but these must be realistic as well and we have to be able to fund them.

I suppose we are coming from the perspective that everyone is ageing. We have one of the largest ageing populations in Europe. It is also important to point out, though, that thanks to all the very good work done daily we have the highest life expectancy in the EU, as deemed by the World Health Organization, WHO, at 82. It is also important to acknowledge that Ireland was the first country in the world to achieve age-friendly status in 2019 from the WHO.

If we speak to older people, they will tell us that their preference is to be able to age in place in their own house in their own home community with the correct wrap-around supports. It is very important, therefore, that this commission will look at all of these options.

The commission will be independently chaired. In December this year, Professor Alan Barrett, chief executive of the ESRI, was appointed as chairperson of the commission. I met with Professor Barrett before Christmas. I will respond further after the Deputy's next question

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The membership of the commission has yet to be determined. We are working on it now and had a meeting on it yesterday. It is envisaged that in line with the commission's approved remit, its members will collectively provide expertise across the areas of geriatrics, gerontology, health economics, health policy and management, health ethics, health technologies and ageing and disability. Stakeholder engagement, including with the public, will be central to the work of the commission. As I said, it will be established in early 2024.

The commission will report in three modules. We will have the first six-month module, which will be completed by the summer. We will then move to module two, which will take another six months. Module three will take longer because of the amount of work that will be involved in it. Engagement and collaboration with stakeholders will be a central component of this endeavour. We will be looking forward to announcing the membership of the commission very soon.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy is quite right. The first two modules of this work will focus on the provision of health and social care services and supports for older people. We know, for example, that we have 323 day centres operational. We also have an additional 52 dementia-specific day centres, which are really important for people who have a dementia diagnosis but still want to be able to live in their own homes.

Today, more than 56,000 people will receive home care in their homes. It is hugely important to be able to support people to be able to age in place. The Deputy spoke about transport. We know that Local Link, especially in the local areas, is an important facet to support older people. I also wish to mention organisations like Meals on Wheels. More than 2 million meals were delivered in 2023 to approximately 50,000 people. It is so much more than the meal itself. It is the knock on the door and the social connection, like the postman coming.

The commission's envisaged work is very ambitious but it is very timely that we do have a commission on care for older people. We are all ageing day by day. We are all only going in the one direction and everybody wants to be able to live well in their own communities.