ALONE and Social Justice Ireland call for Budget 2025 to fund an ageing Ireland
Government must fund an ageing Ireland in Budget 2025, say ALONE and Social Justice Ireland
Charities set out costed recommendations on housing and health for Budget 2025
Dublin, 25th September : ALONE, the organisation that supports older people to age at home, and Social Justice Ireland (SJI), the independent social justice think tank, have called on Government to urgently fund housing and health policies for older people in Budget 2025, noting that adequate and suitable housing is key to health and wellbeing after retirement.
The organisations have come together to publish ‘Policies for Ageing Well at Home in Ireland’, which highlights the key needs and challenges facing our rapidly ageing population, many of whom face being locked out of the property and private rental markets in the years ahead. The policy paper outlines a comprehensive set of costed policy measures to address these issues in the medium and long term.
Key recommendations for Budget 2025 are:
- A call for the Government to fund housing options for older people, including investment of €574 million in supported social housing homes to meet increasing need among this age group, which ALONE and SJI say should be funded from windfall revenue
- Increased funding of €11.2m for housing adaptation grants for older people
- Increased funding of €751m for the Enhanced Community Care scheme
- More support for carers, the community and voluntary sector (€91m)
- The establishment and funding of an office of a Commissioner for Ageing and Older People (€1.2m)
In 2023, ALONE provided support to 37,000 individual older people. Of those assessed, 32% per cent experienced an issue with housing, with housing adaptations mentioned most frequently. Coupled with the 48 per cent who experienced physical health issues – with falls the most common concern – this highlights the critical importance of suitable housing solutions for older people.
In the context of an ageing population, and a chronic shortage of appropriate housing, the two organisations are calling for urgent action to address the current housing crisis facing older people. In particular, ALONE and SJI are highlighting the urgent need to future-proof Ireland’s housing landscape, with people aged 65+ projected to make up 22 per cent of the population by 2040.
The organisations say these shortcomings have been “exacerbated by a failure of housing policy that has resulted in serious problems of availability and affordability”; specifically, the failure to implement the provisions outlined in the 2019 Housing Options for our Ageing Population report. Failure to plan for the housing needs of the retired portion of the population, and for those due to retire in the years ahead, has contributed to the crisis.
“The number of people aged 70+ on the social housing waiting list has almost doubled since 2013,” said ALONE CEO Seán Moynihan. “We supported over 37,000 people last year to age at home, and housing, health and loneliness are the top needs that we support. People aged 60+ now make up almost one in three (29 per cent) of all those in social housing. Many people in their forties and fifties who are renting today will not be able to afford to buy homes, and will struggle to compete in the private rental sector as they get older. The forecasts are extremely concerning, and the housing crisis among older people is only going to worsen if we do not significantly increase funding and planning for the housing needs of older people in Budget 2025. This must be made a Government priority.”
“Ireland is facing significant demographic change. By 2040, people aged 65 and over will make up 22 per cent of the population and we will have double the number of people aged 80 and above,” said John McGeady, CEO of Social Justice Ireland. “People living longer is a major success, but it does require planning for additional demand on resources as more people live longer. Social Justice Ireland is committed to supporting people to age and live well as part of their communities. Supporting people to age well in the security and comfort of their own homes, connected to their communities, is central to that vision. This requires appropriate housing, and the various supports that allow the older members of our community to remain in those homes for as long as possible.”
The paper also calls for significantly increased funding in Enhanced Community Care (ECC). The ECC model aims to deliver increased levels of healthcare with service delivery reoriented towards general practice, primary care and community-based services.
“By moving care closer to home, and increasing community-based interventions, we can prevent hospital admissions and provide multi-disciplinary care which is accessible to everybody when they need it,” continued Mr Moynihan. “However, we need this model to be funded and resourced adequately as set out in Sláintecare to see the benefits.”
He concluded, “We can meet the needs of our ageing population if we take the appropriate actions now. Several of these actions are set out for Government in this paper, but we need commitments in Budget 2025 to make them a reality.”
Policies for Ageing Well at Home in Ireland can be found online at: 2024-09-19-Policy-Options-to-Support-Ageing-Well-at-Home-Budget-2025-Final-Version.pdf (alone.ie)