Ireland’s fast ageing population a big challenge for government services north & south
Ireland’s fast ageing population presents a massive challenge for governments North and South, with an additional 45,000 older people requiring care over the next decade, according to a major new report.
Every day over the next 10 years, an additional seven older people in the Republic, and two in Northern Ireland, will require long-term residential care or home help, states the report, to be published today.
There are serious questions about who will provide this care, especially given the likely increase in female emigration and workforce participation, according to the research funded by the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland.
The report, authored by researchers from Trinity College Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast, also highlights significant differences in the care available north and south of the Border.
It says there is clear evidence that the care assessment system in the Republic is less effective, since it leaves a higher proportion of older people with unmet care needs.
“Although older people are living longer and in better health, Ireland will face substantial extra demands for care of older people every year as the population ages. If care in the community and residential care are not developed appropriately, the pressures on the acute hospital system will be unsustainable,” said Prof Charles Normand of TCD.
The report points out that, in Northern Ireland, there is a legal basis for home help services and an integrated system to assess a person’s need for care at home or placement in a care home.
In the Republic, such assessment only applies in respect of the Fair Deal scheme for placement in a home.
There is a persuasive argument for providing this legal basis and an integrated assessment system in the Republic, especially given fiscal constraints and the rising demand for long-term care, it states.
“We are now facing the challenges previously tackled by other European countries which have managed to build up more comprehensive care systems than we have,” said Maev-Ann Wren of TCD. “Population ageing is independent of migration patterns, as older people don’t tend to emigrate.”
Ms Wren, who was a part-time policy adviser to former minister of State Róisín Shortall until the latter’s resignation last month, said the research provided a number of indications that our present care system was inadequate. The number of over-65s with a difficulty who were receiving no help stood at 14 per cent in the Republic in 2006, compared with just 2 per cent in Northern Ireland. In addition, HSE figures showed there were 690 delayed discharges from hospitals in August, many of them due to a lack of care available outside hospitals.
“It is important to realise that there is a substantial increase not just in absolute numbers of older people but also as a proportion of the population.”
Up to now, inward migration to Ireland had masked the fact that the number of older people was increasing, she pointed out. At present, about 12 per cent of the population is aged 65 or over, but in a decade’s time this figure would be 15 per cent.
Critically, the number of those aged 80 and older, who are more likely to be in need of care, will increase by 53 per cent. The number of over-85s will more than double, from 48,000 in 2006 to 106,000 in 2021.
One piece of good news to emerge is that older people are more likely to enjoy good health than before, so the proportion with a disabling condition that might require care is falling.
However, this trend is more than outpaced by the ageing of the population, so an estimated further 50,000 home care arrangements will be needed by 2021.
The late Brian Lenihan’s letter on Ireland’s bailout package acceptance now released
The critical letter written by the late minister for finance Brian Lenihan in 2010, accepting that Ireland could no longer operate as an independent State and would need a bailout package, has been released.
Mr Lenihan’s letter, dated November 21st, 2010, was to former European Central Bank president Jean Claude Trichet and conceded that the government under taoiseach Brian Cowen had taken a “grave and serious decision” to seek assistance from the troika of international lenders. The letter sheds new light on the extraordinary pressure faced by the government in the lead-up to the bailout decision.
The three-page letter was written in response to one that Mr Trichet sent to Mr Lenihan two days beforehand, on November 19th. Details of that letter were published in The Irish Times last month. In it, Mr Trichet urged Mr Lenihan and his government colleagues to accept the necessity for a bailout and agree to a programme with the troika.
Mr Lenihan, in ceding the inevitability of a bailout, wrote: “There comes a point at which negative sentiment starts to feed on itself, even independently of underlying realities, and we are clearly at that point.”
“[In response to the points made in your letter] I would like to inform you that the Irish Government has decided today to seek access to external support from the European and international support mechanism. This grave and serious decision has been taken in the light of the developments . . . and the recent communications and the advice you have conveyed to me personally and courteously in recent days.”
In the course of the letter, obtained by online news site thejournal.ie, Mr Lenihan set out a strong defence of the government’s actions since the banking crisis erupted in Ireland in September 2008, which he described twice as “aggressive” and also as “assertive”.
“Ireland has worked very aggressively, and to the limits of our fiscal capacity, to protect and repair the banking system in the light of the dangers to the financial stability both in Ireland and in Europe.”
He listed actions such as the 2008 bank guarantee; the bank recapitalisation programme; the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank in January 2009; the establishment of Nama in April 2009; and the €32 billion of capital which had been injected into the banking system. He also said the government had made fiscal adjustments amounting to €15 billion with a further €15 billion in adjustments until 2014.
“The measures for 2011 alone will amount to over €6 billion. Thus, Ireland has proved so far to be flexible and aggressive in dealing with its problems and will continue to be so.”
Mr Lenihan contended the measures had led to improvement in early 2010 but that intervening international events had led to a “sharp reversal”. These included the Greek debt crisis and the concerns it prompted about Ireland; a slowdown in economic recovery worldwide; negative market sentiments; credit rating downgrades. All of this, he said, “led to a crisis of confidence in both the Irish banking system and increasingly the Irish Sovereign”.
Thanking Mr Trichet for his courtesy, he concluded: “You know that we will not be lacking in the will to do all that is necessary on our part to protect our economy and people and to play our role.”
100,000 homes in the dark as analogue TV service switched off
RTE has turned off the old analogue TV signal and made the switch to full digital, leaving an estimated 100,000 homes without any channels.
The changeover happened at 10am today – leaving anyone yet to buy a digital box or television with a blank screen.
The switchover was heralded by presenterMiriam O’Callaghan as “a historic day” for the network.
Following the changeover, Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte made the first broadcast speech on the new fully digital system.
He called the move “the dawn of the digital broadcast era” and said that similar initiatives were taking place all over the world.
The move would allow for better sound and picture quality, the minister said.
Mr Rabbitte called the RTE project “an achievement of which to be proud” and one of the milestones in the national broadcaster’s history.
Tom Savage, chairman of the RTE board, said that the €70m project had been delivered in difficult economic circumstances on time and in budget.
While the Saorview service is free to air, it is estimated that up to 100,000 households have yet to buy the necessary digital box or TV.
A helpline has been established for anyone having trouble with the switch.
It can be contacted on 1890 222 012. A website with advice is also available at www.saorview.ie.
Irish health insurance premiums to go up again
The country’s four private health insurers are planning to increase their prices again in the New Year, it has been reported.
VHI, Aviva, Laya and the newest entrant to the market, GloHealth, are set to push premiums up by 10-15% from January,
While over two million people currently have private health insurance, thousands of people are choosing not to renew their policies every month, due to the cost involved.
Only this week, the VHI announced a 3% increase in premiums, which is due to come into effect next month. Its last increase was only last March. Meanwhile, anyone renewing with Aviva recently would have noticed a 7% increase and Laya Healthcare has already increased its premiums twice this year.
80% of Irish workers angry at colleagues not pulling their weight
Four out of five employees feel angry at their colleagues for not pulling their weight, leaving them to pick up the slack.
And three-quarters believe that when they tell their boss about their grievances, they are not listened to.
These findings are the result of research by Peninsula Ireland, an employment law consultancy, and is based on the replies of 341 workers.
Managing director of Peninsula Alan Price said the survey showed the workplace was in need of some “anger management therapy”.
“Working with people is bound to result in a clash of personalities somewhere along the way, but your reaction is important and if you feel included to rant and rave, then you need to take a step away and breathe,” he said.
Mr Price said that the company often comes across cases where the employee frequently had a “moan and a groan” but never formalised their concerns about lazy or ineffective colleagues.
Then one day the situation comes to a head and the employee can sometimes get involved in an altercation which may seem out of proportion to the issue.
Mr Price stressed the importance of talking to management or human resources in a formal setting and expressing concerns in a non-confrontational manner.
“Ensure it is a two-way conversation. Remember that all employees, including management, may well be under pressure at work. This may be the reason for their behaviour. An amicable meeting should resolve any issues,” he said.
And he stressed that since people spent an average of eight hours a day at work, it was important to have a working environment which did not include stress, worry or anger.
Peninsula is the largest employment law consultancy in Ireland and handles some 2,500 incoming calls a week from client companies, based mainly in the hospitality, nursing home care and retail sectors.
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