Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Nursing Homes Ireland launched a report this morning entitled Health’s Ageing Crisis: Time For Action, A Future Strategy for Ireland’s Long-Term Residential Care. It highlights the challenges we will face over the next few years in respect of the growing number of people over 65 years of age.

For example, there is an interesting statistic indicating that by 2021 there will be a 46% increase in the age group over 85. We need to start long-term planning, particularly with regard to home care and nursing home care packages. In particular, there is a need for an increased number of nursing home beds, and by 2021 we will need approximately 4,000 additional beds, even if we are speaking conservatively about the available figures. If we started that process in the morning, it would take at least three years to take in the planning, construction and completion of nursing home accommodation.

It is time for us to have a debate on long-term planning for this area. There should be a five, ten, 15 and 20 year plan. We must debate the issue, as it is extremely important. It will not go away and we must put in place a long-term plan to deal with it. I ask the Leader to organise a debate with the relevant Minister at an early date.