Financial supports and tax incentives in the care of older people should be focused more towards assisting people to live at home for as long as possible, according to a Government advisory body report.
An automatic right to an assessment of need for older people should also be introduced, while entitlements to services such as home help, meals-on-wheels and supported housing should clarified.
The recommendations are contained in the National Economic and Social Forum (NESF) report, Care for Older People, says increasing numbers of older people should be allowed to lead independent and active lives in the community.
The report represents an apparent shift away from its draft report last year which recommended an extension to the level of tax relief provided to families paying for nursing home care.
The NESF - established by the Government to offer advice on social and economic policy initiatives - says assisting people to live at home would involve a "rebalancing" of care supports to assist people living at home through community-based subventions.
Among its recommendations are: making supports for home care services more widespread and uniform, focusing initially on high-dependent older people in the community; an expansion in the role of assisted and supported housing as an option for older people, particularly where it supports independent living and a continuum of care; the Departments of Health and Social and Family Affairs should jointly establish a broad-based group to develop a national strategy for carers.
It also recommends that public spending in the area should increase over the next five years to at least the OECD average of 1 per cent of GDP, or an extra €500 million a year on services for older people, and that the remit of the Social Services Inspectorate should be extended on a statutory basis to include all care settings for older people, including home-based care, private, nursing homes etc.
The NESF conclusions add to a growing consensus within the Government and among support groups to place a greater emphasis on supporting care in the home for older people.
Last year's draft NESF report, which also underlined the need for more community care, was one of a number of policy documents considered by Minister for Health Mary Harney in the run- up to December's Budget.
That Budget included a €150 million package on care for older people and on keeping older people in their homes.
Age Action Ireland welcomed the publication of the report and said much greater Government support was needed in the development of community rather than residential services.
Paul Murray, the group's head of communications, said: "We spend half of our budget for older people on the 5 per cent or less who go into residential care.
"For too long the 95 per cent in the community have had to suffer services which can only be described as 'patchy'. This is wholly against Government policy which has always stated its objective as the encouragement of older people to stay in their own homes as long as possible."
In a statement yesterday, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern welcomed the report and said its findings would be taken into account in the future consideration of related policy by Government.
The full report is available on www.nesf.ie
