Irish Government Expenditure on Older People

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This section is currently under development.

In this section you will find information on the Irish Government's Expenditure on Older People as set out in the following documents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Ireland - Stability Programme Update 2007
National Development Plan 2007-2013
1. Living at Home Sub-Programme
2. Residential Care Sub-Programme
Statistical Information on Social Welfare Services 2007
1. Expenditure on Older People - State Pensions
2. Care Expenditure

Ireland - Stability Programme Update 2007

Document	Publisher	Date of publication	Go to website or Download	More details
Ireland - Stability Programme Update	Department of Finance / Irish Government	December 2007	Go to website or Download	See below.

European Union regulations require that member states prepare an annaul Stability Programme Update. The 2007 update includes statistics on "Age-Related Spending Projections" under Table 13, page D32 for the following years: 2005, 2010, 2020, 2030, 2040 and 2050. The projections are based on a set of assumptions which are outlined in the table. The figures for 2005 are as set out in the table below.

Areas of expenditure - 2005	Percentage of GDP	Nominal expenditure (based on GDP for 2005 of €162,168 million)
1. Total age-related expenditure (includes 2, 7, 8, 9 and 10)	15.2	24,649 million
2. Total pension expenditure (includes 3 and 6)	4.6	7,460 million
3. Social security pensions (includes 4 and 5)	3.4	5,514 million
4. Old-age and early pensions	2.3	3,730 million
5. Other pensions	1.1	1,784 million
6. Occupational pensions (Public Service)	1.2	1,946 million
7. Health Care	5.3	8,595 million
8. Long-term care	0.6	973 million
9. Education expenditure	4.0	6,487 million
10. Other age-related expenditures (Unemployment benefit)	0.7	1,135 million

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National Development Plan 2007-2013

Document	Publisher	Date of publication	Go to website or Download	More details
The National Development Plan 2007-2013: Transforming Ireland – A Better Quality of Life for All	Irish Government	January 2007	Go to website or Download	See below.

The Older People's Programme comes under the Social Inclusion Priorty of the National Development Plan 2007 - 2013 (NDP). The NDP states that under the Older People's Programme some € 9.7 billion will be invested under the following Sub-Programmes:

Living at Home Sub-Programme — € 4.7 billion; and
Residential Care Sub-Programme — € 5.0 billion.

Living at Home Sub-Programme

The Living at Home Sub-Programme is designed to provide some €4.7 billion over the period of the Plan for a range of measures that will help older people to live independently in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. The use of community and home-based care will be maximised and will complement the role of informal, including family, care. The Sub-Programme includes the following areas:

Home Care Packages
Home Help Service
Meals-on-Wheels
Community Intervention Teams
Respite and Day Care Services

Residential Care Sub-Programme

The Residential Care Sub-Programme is designed to invest some €5.0 billion over the period of the NDP. When it is no longer possible for an older person to remain in their own home in dignity and independence, they may need to be cared for in a long-stay residential setting. Towards 2016 outlined the principles which inform policy development in this area.

The committments in this section of the NDP include: the development of additional "Community Units" (each with a bed capacity of 50 beds and which can provide convalescent, respite and day care services) in Dublin, Cork and other sites; plans to develop additional bed capacity, replace existing bed stock and to carry out necessary refurbishment and upgrading and; the development of a new Nursing Home Care Support Scheme ("A Fair Deal").

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Statistical Information on Social Welfare Services 2007

Document	Publisher	Date of publication	Go to website or Download	More details
Statistical Information on Social Welfare Services 2007	Department of Social and Family Affairs	2008	Go to website or Download	See below.

Expenditure on Older People - State Pensions

The Department of Social and Family Affairs publish an annual report on statistical information on social welfare services which includes a section on older people (Section B, page 26). This section states that: "Expenditure payments for older people was over €3,878 million in 2007. This represents an increase of 18.3% on 2006." This expenditure is comprised of spending on the following four supports:

Payment Type	Amount in thousands
Social Insurance
State Pension (Contributory)	2,754,947
State Pension (Transition)	79,054
Social Assistance
State Pension (Non-contributory)	920,167
Pre-Retirement Allowance	124,490