A £247 million action plan aimed at providing care and services for a growing elderly population has been launched by the Eastern Health Board.
Unprecedented increases in the numbers of people aged over 65 and 85 are expected in Cos Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare in the next 10 years. This will put enormous pressure on health board services, particularly those covering psychiatry and mental handicap.
The 10-year plan would provide a "blueprint for the development and resourcing of services for older persons over the next decade", said its chief executive officer, Mr PJ Fitzpatrick.
"Our objective is to maintain older persons in dignity and independence at home as long as possible and when this is no longer feasible, to provide high-quality hospital or residential care."
The number of elderly people living in the Eastern Health Board area has soared in recent years. There are now more than 126,000 people above the age of 65 and this is expected to rise to 165,000 during the next 10 years, an increase of 23 per cent.
The predicted increase in the number of people aged 80 and above is particularly large. Since 1991, the number of people in this age group has risen from 23,000 to 26,181. However, it is expected that this figure will reach 41,800 by 2011, an 80 per cent increase since 1991.
Mr Fitzpatrick said the changes in the elderly population were very welcome and reflected healthier lifestyles and improvements in medical treatment and technology. However, it did mean that the services provided for older people would have to be significantly greater.
The rise in the elderly population is mainly the result of advances made in medical treatment, with many serious illnesses now treatable. A demographic shift dating back several decades also accounts for the huge growth in the number of older people living in and around Dublin.
"There would have been a shift in the population from the rural areas to Dublin when people moved here 30 or 40 years ago for employment. Over the next 10 years, many of those people will becoming elderly," said Mr Fitzpatrick.
The 10-year action plan includes extra community nursing homes, rehabilitation places and the expansion of psychiatry departments. The Eastern Health Board already has three psychiatry departments for older people, compared to only one in the rest of the State, and is now planning an additional department at the Tallaght hospital.
Projects for those suffering from dementia and senility will also be introduced to cope with the demand posed by the huge growth in the number of people aged 80 and above.
Ms Roisin Shortall, chairperson of the EHB and a Labour TD, described the plan as "a proactive initiative in that it includes a very detailed and scientifically-based assessment" of the needs of the elderly population over the next 10 years.
It assessed the future requirements of all older people, including the mentally ill, mentally handicapped, and elderly people needing support at home. It also enhanced community supports in particular and met the needs of the elderly requiring residential care.