Report
for Southside Partnership and Dun Laoghaire
Rathdown Network for Older People
A Profile and Needs Assessment
of Older People in Dun Laoghaire
Rathdown
from Liz Chaloner and Wendy Cox
independent researchers and consultants
June 2009
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Acknowledgements
The researchers would like to warmly thank the following people who
contributed in their different ways to the outcomes of this research project
about and with older people in Dύn Laoghaire Rathdown:
The Chair, survey sub-committee members, members of the main
committee of the Dύn Laoghaire Rathdown Older People’s Network and
their administrative staff member, for their hard work and good humour
in working with the researchers to plan and implement a very successful
survey. Thanks too to the County Council for support in kind to the
survey process.
All of the 291 members of groups in the Dύn Laoghaire Rathdown Older
People’s Network who took the time and trouble to complete the survey
questionnaire.
The individuals consulted in statutory agencies and voluntary
organisations who made time for questions and discussion, contributing
valuable information and insights.
Finally, sincere thanks to the Manager and staff of Southside Partnership
for support and advice throughout, and for their help in providing
temporary office space for the survey work.
We hope that the resulting report will be of value to everyone concerned.
Liz Chaloner and Wendy Cox
June 15th 2009
2
Contents
Acknowledgements
page
Preface:
The Role of Southside Partnership
5
Chapter 1
Introduction
7
1.1 Aims and tasks of the study
1.2 Structure of the research and the report
1.3 Summary of main findings
Chapter 2
Context
20
2.1 Global ageing trends and the Irish situation
2.2 International policy on older people
2.3 The national context: Irish policy and strategy
2.4 Local policy and strategy: Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County
Chapter 3
Older people in Ireland and older people in Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown: demographic and statistical information
36
3.1 Older people in the national demographic picture
3.2 Older people in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
3.3 The contribution of older people
3.4 Older people as residents of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
3.5 Older people: income and employment
3.6 Older people and health: national level information
3.7 Older people, security and safety
3.8 Older people and education in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
Chapter 4
Survey: Contributions and Needs of Older People
in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
88
4.1 Background: the Network for Older People in Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown
4.2 Designing and implementing the survey
4.3 Survey findings
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Chapter 5
Consultations with Key Informants
112
5.1 Themes and topics
5.2 Organisations and agencies consulted
5.3 Findings of consultations
Roles, remits and services
Definitions of ‘older people’
Aims of organisations and services
The older population of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
Older people’s participation in decision-making
Contributions of older people
Positive developments service and older people’s wellbeing
Challenges and gaps in services
Older people’s information needs
Identifying the disadvantaged and excluded
Suggestions for new services and supports
Chapter 6
Conclusions and Recommendations
Appendices:
132
137
1. Bibliography and references
2. Relevant policy documents: international, national and DLR
3. The older population of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown by age, 2006
4. List of those consulted in the course of the research
5. Outline of topics for consultations
6. Network for Older People in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown: questionnaire
4
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Preface
The Role of Southside Partnership
Southside Partnership is the local development company for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown
(DLR) and implements the Local Development Social Inclusion Programme (LDSIP).
The Partnership is in the process of extending the LDSIP to the whole County of Dún
Laoghaire-Rathdown and is undertaking a number of key actions to support this
objective. A key facet of this process is to undertake the development of a detailed
profile of new areas and vulnerable groups, and the mapping of needs of new target
areas and target groups in the County. This will build on work already undertaken by
the Partnership.
Supporting key target groups revolves around providing development supports to
groups at risk of and experiencing social exclusion. A central tenet of this role includes
building the capacity of target groups to play a meaningful part in local efforts to
promote their social inclusion. These structures include those related to Southside
Partnership and other structures of importance which may not be under the remit of
Partnership directly, such as the CDB, RAPID, the Local Drugs Task Force and so forth.
This also includes providing a particular focus in their work on those geographic areas
in which there are clusters of disadvantage and thus target groups such as in areas of
social housing.
Current programmes and activities
In the context of the role and thrust of the Partnership, it is worth outlining the current
work of the Partnership. This current work is based around a number of Programmes,
each of which includes a number of strategies that in turn inform a number of actions.
The three central programmes are those that are set out in the LDSIP, namely:

Services to the Unemployed

Community Development,

Education, Youth and Childcare
Work with older people
During the first Southside Partnership Programme of Action older people were not named
as a target group but were very involved in consultation on the plan. Later on, Pobal
identified a number of target groups including Older People. However work with
other groups (Travellers, Ethnic Minorities and People with Disabilities) took centre
stage. Given the demographic profile of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown as one of the oldest
in the country, it was clear that Southside Partnership should take a targeted approach
to understanding and responding to the issues faced by older people in the area.
In 2007, Southside Partnership provided training for carers through the Local
Employment Service. This provided FETAC certified training for lone parents and
unemployed persons to qualify them for work providing care services in the home to
older people and people with disabilities.
5
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
In 2008, the Partnership provided formal training to the Dún Laoghaire Network for
Older People on how to conduct a survey of older people in the area and to begin the
process of bringing these issues to the attention of key decision makers in the County.
This established a strong connection between Southside Partnership and the formal
representative structure for older people in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown and has led to
further opportunities for collaboration, including this research project.
In 2009, Southside Partnership working with Age and Opportunity and the HSE Older
Service Programme will deliver the 'Ageing with Confidence’ programme which will
provide an opportunity for older people in the area to reflect on aspects of ageing,
challenge stereotypes and develop a pool of activists on ageing issues in the area.
Southside Partnership is also preparing an application for Interreg funding which, if
successful, will see Southside Partnership engage with a number of academic and
practice partnerships in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Belgium and Luxembourg to
explore opportunities to develop social enterprises serving older people. This promises
to be an exciting project that will have definite positive outcomes in improved services
at a time of significant cut backs.
Throughout this time, Southside Partnership has been actively involved with older
people in their role as staff, members of boards of management and volunteers in
community groups and organisations around the County. The Partnership recognises
the invaluable contribution that older people make to civic life in Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown. This research will provide important guidance on how Southside
Partnership can support older people in making that contribution.
***
Marie Carroll, Manager, Southside Partnership,
June 2009
6
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Aims and tasks of the study
The research on older people in Dύn Laoghaire Rathdown County which was the basis
for this report was commissioned by Southside Partnership, together with the Dύn
Laoghaire Rathdown Network for Older People. It was carried out during the period
November 2008 to April 2009 by two independent researchers and consultants, Wendy
Cox and Liz Chaloner.
The primary purpose of the research was to inform and strengthen the Partnership’s
planning processes in relation to work for and with older people, who will be a new
‘target group’ in the forthcoming Strategic Plan, as indicated in the Preface. In addition,
the Network hoped that results from a survey would strengthen their work in
representing older people’s issues at county level and with local TDs and County
Councillors.
As set out in the Terms of Reference, there were three linked strands to the research:
o
To review recent statistical and demographic data, in order to provide a profile
of older people in the county;
o
To carry out a series of ‘key informant interviews’ with statutory and voluntary
service providers;
o
To design and implement a questionnaire-based survey, working collaboratively
with the Dύn Laoghaire Rathdown Network for older people, which would focus
on the needs/issues of older people and on their contributions to community life.
The Partnership also requested that the information be linked to the national and local
policy contexts in relation to the older population.
1.2 Structure of the research and the report
The three main strands of the research were potentially complementary, but in the
event there was no straightforward way to match the findings from all three to each
other in order to provide a thematically-structured report. It was therefore decided to
present the results of each strand separately, making links where possible between
them, and clearly ‘signposting’ themes and topics in common. The report is structured
as follows:
Chapter 2: Policy context
In recent years, in the context of an increased awareness of Ireland’s changing
demography, there have been significant developments in national policy in relation to
the older population. The opening chapter first contextualises them by reference to
international framework documents on ageing and older people, then outlines the main
developments and the commitments that have been made to date, based on a study of
the relevant documents.
7
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Research also included identifying relevant policy statements and strategy documents
at a more local level. These are also outlined in the chapter, as they form part of the
context in which the Southside Partnership is developing its increased focus on older
people, their needs and contributions.
Excerpts from the main documents cited are included in Appendix 2 of this report.
At the time of writing (mid-2009), it is uncertain how the impact of Ireland’s current
economic situation and the inevitable adjustments in expenditure that are under way
will affect the implementation by both government and local authorities of the policies
and strategies they have already put in place, and on those which have been promised,
of which the National Positive Ageing Strategy is a good example.
Chapter 3: Statistical/ demographic context
One of the two researchers concentrated on the elaboration of a profile of older people
in DLR. This was carried out through secondary data analysis, primarily using the
following recent sources available for investigation:
o
CSO data from Census 2006;
o
Small Area Population Statistics (SAPS) relating to Dύn Laoghaire Rathdown,
drawn from Census 2006;
o
GAMMA report for County Development Board: Demographic and Socioeconomic Profile of Dύn Laoghaire Rathdown (2008) and GAMMA statistics
provided to Southside Partnership;
o
Social Inclusion Profile of Dύn Laoghaire Rathdown: report by Niall Watters of
Unique Perspectives, for Southside Partnership, 2009 (unpublished at the time
of this research);
o
The CSO publication Ageing in Ireland, published in 2007.
Definitions of ‘older people’?
In recent years, official statements and documents have generally abandoned the term
‘elderly’ as a description of the older part of the population in favour of ‘older people’,
but the meaning of this term can vary from one context to another. The majority of
statutory service providers, including the HSE, designate age 65 (the conventional
retirement/ pension age) as the point when a person becomes ‘older’ and therefore
eligible for particular services. For the purposes of this study it was decided, in
consultation with Southside Partnership, that the term ‘older people’ should where
feasible encompass everyone of 55 years and over, since this generation will in due
course become part of the more conventionally defined older age group.
Outline of chapter 3
The chapter uses the available statistical information to look first at the general profile
of the over-65 and over-55 populations in Dύn Laoghaire Rathdown, and compares
them to the picture for the Greater Dublin area and for Ireland as a whole, to show that
the county is unusual in demographic terms because of its older age profile overall, and
hence its higher ‘age dependency ratio’.
8
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
The following sections of the chapter cover important aspects of their lives and
experiences, although the balance of national and local information available varies a
good deal across the different topics covered:
o
Older people’s contributions to society, through volunteering, caring work
and voting habits;
o
Older people as residents of the county: housing circumstances; age profiles
of different areas; older people living alone in DLR; and the different types of
accommodation available to them;
o
Income and employment: employment/ retirement status and the risk of
poverty; state pension recipients; pre-retirement occupations;
o
Health and disability: income, social class and health; exercise and nutrition;
mental health and social well-being; national provision for care at home;
o
Security and safety, including safety in the home, older people and road
safety; elder abuse;
o
Older people and education.
Difficulties encountered in carrying out this statistical/ demographic research
Several challenges were met regarding the construction of an accurate and
comprehensive picture of the situation of older people living in DLR County.
A principal difficulty is that the geographical boundaries of differing service providers
and authorities are not coterminous. For example, the relevant HSE administrative area
(Dublin - Mid-Leinster) comprises a much larger geographical area than that covered
by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, and the areas covered by Local Health
Offices include parts of the county as well as areas beyond it. Geographical areas
covered by Garda divisions likewise do not follow county boundaries. Further detailed
investigation thus remains to be done in order to obtain some specific health and social
services-related information for the Southside Partnership area.
There was a particular difficulty in relation to obtaining detailed information on the
economic circumstances of older people living in Dύn Laoghaire Rathdown.
Confidentiality is naturally a key concern in this regard, and, although some information
was available to the researchers via the Unique Perspectives Social Inclusion Profile, a
more detailed picture was not possible. This is regrettable, as data from national
sources show some groups of older people – such as older women living alone on
state pensions – to be ‘at risk of’ poverty, although this may not necessarily be the case
in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown for these or other potentially vulnerable groups.
The demographic profile of Dύn Laoghaire Rathdown as a whole is unusual compared
to most other parts of the country, because of the greater preponderance of older
people. This means it is not possible to deduce the local situation from the national
figures when local statistics or national age-disaggregated statistics are unavailable.
This is true of such important factors as economic circumstances (the Census form
does not include a question on income), experiences of crime, levels of volunteering,
caring, and other contributions.
9
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Chapter 4: Survey of Network for Older People in Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown
Background
The other researcher took primary responsibility for working with the Network for Older
People on the design and implementation of a survey focused on issues in three areas
that the Network itself had earlier identified as central to its members’ concerns:
transport; security and safety; health and health services. (More information about the
Network itself is provided in Chapter 4.)
In summer 2008, members of the Network’s Committee had obtained funding from Age
and Opportunity, and benefited from general training by the Partnership in research
principles and practice. They had concluded – alongside their decision on the areas of
focus – that their preferred strategy was to work with an appropriate researcher on a
questionnaire-based survey of older people.
The survey process
Over a four-month period, beginning in November 2008, the researcher met with a
survey sub-committee nominated by the main Network committee, carried out work on
behalf of the sub-committee, and took part in the Network Committee’s monthly
meetings, where the survey was a major agenda item. She worked closely with the
Network Chair and office on practicalities such as printing, distribution and collection of
the questionnaires, and arrangements for the preparatory meeting. All of this work was
seen as a contribution to building the Network’s capacity and confidence for future
projects, and so interactions were as far as possible carried out as peer-to-peer
support and development work, rather than as expert interventions.
It was not decided at the outset whether the survey would be limited to Network
members, or have a wider reach. Consideration was given by the Partnership and the
researchers to the feasibility of including in the survey’s scope a small number of older
people’s groups in somewhat different settings, such as a residential care home and a
Travellers’ project. Eventually, for reasons of practicality and time constraints, it was
concluded that the survey would have greater coherence if it was straightforwardly ‘of
the Network, by the Network and for the Network’, and work proceeded on this basis.
A survey questionnaire was designed, covering the chosen topics as well as relevant
demographic information, and taking care that its length, language and format were
appropriate to a range of older people. A small number of older people were asked to
take part in a pilot survey, and their accounts of the experience were taken into account
in producing the final version.
The Network’s groups were briefed and invited to participate, and a preparatory
meeting was organised for ‘contact people’ from each of the groups, to familiarise them
with the questionnaire itself, and support them to introduce it effectively to their own
groups, so as to ensure maximum participation. It also turned out to be a lively and
interactive networking meeting for those who attended!
10
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Outcomes
Results of this careful preparation were positive: there was general enthusiasm for the
project and 30 of the 34 groups listed as members of the Network participated,
returning 291 completed forms to the Network office by the due date. Data entry was
then undertaken during the month of March and analysis of the data began in April.
Chapter 4 of the report presents and comments on the main findings from the 44
questions in the survey.
It also includes information about the Network itself, based on its published material
and on interviews conducted with the Network’s Chair and the staff member of Dύn
Laoghaire Rathdown County Council who is responsible for that body’s support to and
liaison with the Network.
Chapter 5: Consultations with key informants
A list of key informants, from statutory and voluntary bodies providing services and
supports to older people and including HSE, Gardai, VEC, County Development Board,
Irish Association of Older People, and St Vincent de Paul Society, was provided to the
researchers by the Partnership.
All of these individuals were contacted, and face to face interviews were successfully
carried out with most of those listed, and with one or two others to whom the
researchers were referred. A small number of additional informants were contacted but
in the event it was not possible to hold discussions with them or obtain relevant data
from them.
The semi-structured interviews lasted generally for an hour or an hour and a half, and
were conducted on the basis of a ‘topic guide’ agreed in advance with the Partnership,
which covered areas including:
o
Role and responsibilities of the person consulted and their organisation;
o
Organisational definitions of ‘older people’;
o
Services provided by the organisation; aims, achievements and challenges of
these services;
o
Views on the overall situation of older people in the county, and any gaps
identified in services generally;
o
Views on the contribution of older people to their neighbourhoods and
communities;
o
The question of which older people are most at risk of being marginalised or
socially excluded, and suggestions about new services or programmes to
address this and benefit older people generally.
All those who were interviewed were very helpful, and generous with information and
views. Some of them also kindly suggested other people to contact.
Given the time constraints of the overall project, consulting this group of key informants
could be seen as an important first step, but only a first step, towards gaining a full
11
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
grasp of the broader picture of older people’s needs and contributions in the county,
and to assessing how far the range of services and supports provided responds to the
needs and wishes of the older population. A more extensive consultation – perhaps
based on the new comprehensive listing of services which was about to be published
at the time of writing – will be needed to provide the full picture.
Difficulties in the way of obtaining a comprehensive overview, which were identified in
the course of the research, included the very different geographical reaches of different
organisations and agencies, which by no means respect county or electoral division
boundaries, and the fact that some do not identify ‘older people’ as a specific target
group’ for services, so do not collect data or record activity/ services on that basis.
Assumptions about organisations supporting older people in particular were tested
when it transpired that the particular local charitable society approached (a parishbased chapter of St Vincent de Paul Society) had almost no older clients, so were not
in practice service providers to older people – although a high proportion of their
volunteers are ‘older people’ themselves.
In addition, an expectation that further detailed and informative statistical information
could be provided as a result of several of these interviews was not fulfilled in practice,
not least because the extremely varied boundaries and ‘catchment areas’ of the
different organisations made county-based data difficult to identify and retrieve.
Nevertheless, the information provided by those consulted in this part of the research
exercise provides valuable insights from those working ‘on the ground’ in relation to a
number of topics including:
o
Challenges for service providers, and gaps in present range of services;
o
Suggestions for new services and supports, based on providers’ local
knowledge;
o
Older people’s information needs;
o
Identifying the ‘most excluded’ older people;
o
Older people’s participation in decision-making.
Chapter 6: Conclusions and recommendations
Finally, the report offers some conclusions and recommendations based on the
findings of the research.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
1.3 Summary of main findings
(i) Policy context
This research project has been situated within the context of existing policy statements
and strategies on ageing and older people, from international, national, and local
county sources, and it has referred briefly to major new research and policy initiatives
now taking place in Ireland.
Contextualising it in this way shows clearly that any new initiative which Southside
Partnership, the County Development Board, or any other body concerned with older
people in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown might take, can draw on a solid and extensive body
of documentation and existing expertise relating to the well-being of older people,
which has already had considerable influence on policy and provision here.
The internationally-agreed United Nations Principles for Older Persons (1991) and
Madrid Declaration (2002), establishing the right to full equality and the best possible
quality of life, as well as underlining the key principles of independence, participation,
care, self-fulfilment, and dignity in older age, were drawn on by the Irish government,
when it set out its vision for older people in Ireland in Towards 2016. And it is noteable
how the themes of the World Health Organisation in its Age Friendly Cities Guide and
accompanying Checklist (both 2007) resonate with the topics and issues emerging at
grass-roots level from the project’s survey of older people in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown.
It is appropriate that the current study, growing out of the Partnership’s determination to
bring older people more clearly into focus in its work, has taken place in 2009, as older
people (and in fact all who hope to become ‘older’!) wait for the realisation of the
government’s stated ambition for a National Positive Ageing Strategy, a comprehensive
framework for policy and provision, which will finally replace The Years Ahead: a Policy
for the Elderly (1988).
Consideration of the wider context of thinking, at national and local levels, about the
needs and contributions of the growing numbers of older people in Ireland, can only
lead to the conclusion that the emphasis now needs to be:
 First, on creating and putting in place this vital strategic framework;
 Second, on devoting resources to implementation – of the Strategy’s major
provisions, and of existing sectoral and specialised policies and plans
addressing specific aspects of older people’s lives;
 Third, underpinning all of this has to be a whole-hearted commitment to an
ongoing process of wide-ranging and serious engagement and consultation
with older people themselves.
These are the elements that will ensure that Ireland, and the county of Dun Laoghaire
Rathdown itself, can become great places for everyone to grow old in.
13
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
(ii) Demographic profile: older people in Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown
Background: Dύn Laoghaire Rathdown has conventionally been seen as an affluent
county with few areas of disadvantage. This perception has recently been challenged
by Watters (2009) who argues, in his Social Inclusion Profile of Dύn Laoghaire
Rathdown, that traditional measurements of deprivation, based on percentages, have
seriously under-estimated deprivation levels in the county. His study shows that the
absolute numbers of those within Dún Laoghaire Rathdown experiencing or at risk of
deprivation are considerably higher than in other areas of Dublin and the country as a
whole, which have traditionally been associated with high levels of deprivation.
In endeavouring to highlight aspects of the demographic profile of older people in the
county, which could be the starting points for further research and action, this report
took cognisance of these important findings, as well as the detailed statistical data
provided by GAMMA to the County Development Board and the Partnership. Its main
findings are as follows:
Population profile
Census 2006 data showed 25,987 people over 65 in Dύn Laoghaire Rathdown. At
13.4% of its total population, this was higher than both the national figure of 11%, and
the figure of 10.3% for Greater Dublin;
The total over-55 population of DLR was 46,246, almost 25% of the population of the
county;
In all adult age groups there were more women than men, with women increasingly
predominating in the oldest age groups, because of greater average longevity;
The older population has been growing relative to other age groups, in this mostly
densely-populated and settled county;
Unlike other parts of Ireland, DLR’s old age dependency ratio (currently at 19.6%
overall) has increased in recent years, and in some areas was over 35% in 2006;
Areas with the largest numbers of older people are across the north and along the east
of the county, contrasting with some more recently-developed areas in the south and
south-west which have a younger demographic profile.
The contributions of older people
For this dimension of the older population’s profile, the researchers had to draw on
national-level Census data or on county data covering all age groups. This showed:

Voting: older people are exceptionally conscientious voters compared to the
rest of the population - 86.3% of over-65s voted in the 2002 General Election

Volunteering: nationally in 2006, 15% of all over 65s engaged in volunteer
activity, but other data suggest that the proportion is likely to be higher in Dun
Laoghaire Rathdown. Data on volunteering by all age groups in the county
showed men more involved in sporting activities, politics and culture, and
women in social, charitable and religious activities, and this is especially likely
for older people.
14
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs

‘Engaging in community activity’ by older people, as recorded in the SLÁN
2007 survey, was a regular part of life for between 30 and 60% of over-65s
nationwide (figures varying by social class and gender).

Unpaid caring: around 7,500 people of all ages in DLR provided care for
others (relatives, friends or neighbours) with more women involved than men.
National figures would suggest an estimate of just over 1000 carers over the
age of 65 in the county, with varying levels of time devoted to caring.
Locations and housing circumstances of older people in DLR

The ‘oldest’ areas: the electoral divisions of the county with the highest
percentages (over 20%) of older people are in Ballinteer, Churchtown, and
Dundrum in the west, Dalkey, Dύn Laoghaire and Foxrock in the east.

Types of ownership and tenure: Census 2006 data showed almost 83% or
20,782 older residents in DLR were owner-occupiers; some 958 (3.8%) were
renting in local authority housing schemes, while 474 (1.9%) were purchasing
from the Council. Also, 448 (1.8%) were in private rented accommodation, and
a small number of others rented from a voluntary body or were rent- free.

Living alone in DLR: in 2006 there were 6,409 people over 65 years living
alone, with the highest concentrations in parts of Churchtown, Windy Arbour,
Dύn Laoghaire and Dalkey. Somewhat higher proportions of the older age
groups (both 45+ and 65+) lived alone in DLR than in Greater Dublin or Ireland
as a whole. Women were more likely to be living alone.

Residential care: National figures suggest that approximately 5% of all older
people are ‘usually resident’ in nursing homes and hospitals. In DLR terms, this
would indicate almost 1,300 older people living in these circumstances, but
more specific data was not accessible.
Employment and income

In 2006, 13.4% (21,338) of those over 15 in DLR were ‘retired’.

13,220 households (including those with a ‘qualified adult’) in DLR received
contributory or non-contributory social welfare pensions in 2008, of which 1,780
were means-tested benefits (non-contributory pensions).

Nationally, an estimated 13.6% of the older population remain ‘at risk’ of poverty
and 3.7% are in ‘consistent’ poverty. For DLR, this would suggest that around
3,500 older people are ‘at risk’ of poverty and around 950 in consistent poverty.

Many studies identify an increased risk of poverty for older women, who are
less likely than men to have adequate pension income in their own right.
Education

Compared to the country as a whole and the Greater Dublin Area, Dún
Laoghaire Rathdown has strikingly high educational attainment levels overall.
15
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs

However, significant numbers of people in the county have no more than
primary or lower secondary education, and this is true of 45-55% of people in
some areas. A high proportion of those with low educational levels are over 65.
Health and disability

Overall, around two thirds of people over 65 in Ireland regard their health as
good or very good, but this is correlated with income and social class. Selfdefined good health is more typical of social classes 1 and 2, while the less
well-off define their health as less than good. The position in DLR is likely to be
similar;

Almost 7,000 people over 65 in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown live with a disability or
chronic illness (they constitute 27% of all over 65s, and almost 40% of all those
in DLR with disability); the proportion of people with a disability in the population
increases with age;

32% overall of older people with a disability live alone in DLR, but figures for
women (40.3% living alone) and men (19.6%) are strikingly different.
Safety and security

Nationally, just over half of the older population fear becoming a victim of crime,
but figures show they are less likely to be victims of crime than other age
groups;

In Dún Laoghaire Rathdown in recent years there has been a general drop in
the incidence of most types of crime, with the exception of drug-related crimes;

HSE reports on elder abuse indicate that between 3 and 5% of older people
have been, or are being, subjected to some form of abuse. 245 referrals
regarding allegations of elder abuse were made to HSE Dublin-Mid Leinster
(which includes DLR but is considerably larger area) in 2008. The majority
related to people over 80 living at home, and almost two-thirds were women;

Road accident statistics for Ireland as a whole show that people over 65 are
more likely to be killed on the roads as pedestrians than as car drivers or
passengers, the converse of the situation for younger age groups. 30% of all
pedestrians killed on the roads countrywide between 1997 and 2007 were over
65.
16
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
(iii) Main findings from the Network survey
Ranging in age from 55 to over 90, mostly retired and predominantly female, the 291
survey participants seem to be the well and active older people of the county, able to
attend meetings, and to spend time and energy on a 44-question survey form. Their
mostly positive responses about their own health, and their general (but not universal)
satisfaction with health services, seem to confirm this likely participant profile.
Contributions of older people: it was not surprising that just over half of participants
were volunteers, and 94% voted in the last election – more than the national averages
for older people. Also, around one fifth of them had regular caring responsibilities.
Education and income levels: it was surprising that, in a county with a high overall
educational profile, a quarter of participants had left school by age 14, and a further
25% by age 16. Also surprising was the fact that, while most people felt financially
secure, around one in five said their current income was insufficient for their needs.
IT use and information issues: only one-third of participants used a computer, and
significant minorities said they experienced difficulties with obtaining and understanding
information, both on financial entitlements and on health and social services.
Social contact: levels of face-to-face contact were low for some participants: while
over half met and talked with friends and neighbours on most days of the week, a
quarter had contact on just 1 or 2 days a week, while for others it was less frequent.
The ‘big issues’ – how problematic are they? Of topics listed, safety on the streets
was problematic for the largest number of people (67%), followed by transport,
information, and security in the home (all problematic for 50%).
Naming one change that would improve their lives, three times as many people
mentioned transport issues (providing a long series of comments on inadequate bus
services, no transport to hospitals, parking problems and costs and related matters) as
mentioned the next most frequently cited topic, pedestrian safety.
Transport is crucial to daily life: 75% use some form of transport for local journeys at
least 2 or 3 times a week. 4 out of 5 use it for hospital appointments, 70% for shopping
and for social/ leisure purposes; 60% to get to their GP. 45% mostly use a car, but 37%
mostly use the bus, with one quarter wholly dependent on one or the other.
Other changes and improvements wished for included: more activities and meeting
places for older people; improved Council services (footpaths, waste collection,
seating, libraries and others) and more contact from local representatives.
‘Are older people’s voices being heard by local representatives?’: over 40% of
survey participants said ‘no!’, while 35% ‘don’t know’ and only 17% said ‘yes’.
Issues of safety and security: footpaths were rated as causing most difficulty (75% of
participants found them problematic to some extent) while vandalism was problematic
for 65%, anti-social behaviour for 58% and pedestrian crossings for 50%.
Satisfaction with local policing: it was striking that 30% were not happy with the level
of Garda presence in their neighbourhoods, 35% were undecided, and only 35% said
they were satisfied.
17
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
(iv) Main findings from the consultations
Similar themes to those that featured in the Network survey emerged from the different
perspectives of the organisations consulted in this strand of the research.
Definitions and boundaries: obstacles to obtaining a clear overview of older people in
the county were highlighted by the fact that few organisations shared the same
geographical boundaries, and there were many definitions of what ‘older’ means in
terms of chronological age. Some bodies focus on ‘disadvantage’ while others do not,
but this can mean different things in different organisational contexts.
Overall aims of services: all the organisations tended to stress the maximum wellbeing of older people as an overall goal, but generally framed in terms of the dimension
of life addressed by that service. There is not yet a shared broad and holistic vision of
positive ageing, to which each service sees itself contributing it own part.
Awareness of diversity: There was a shared awareness of some fundamental facts
‘on the ground’: (1) the particularities of demography in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown and
the challenges posed, and (2) the range of experiences of older age lived by local
people with different health statuses and from different age groups, genders, social,
economic and cultural backgrounds, and locations.
Participation: is the voice of older people being heard in policy- and decision-making
on matters affecting them? Bringing older people onto some of the county’s structures
is a positive beginning, and all the organisations are willing to engage with their views,
but mechanisms for thorough and ongoing consultation have yet to be developed. The
challenge of reaching those who are not ‘linked in’ is generally acknowledged, and
many older people will have to be encouraged to play a more active part.
Contributions of older people to communities and society: most responses
focused on volunteering (charity shops, Lions Clubs etc.) and the increasing
involvement of grandparents in childcare, but little was said about more traditional
forms of caring for sick or frail relatives, much of which falls to older people. Those who
are involved in running Active Retirement groups or in the Network were seen as
contributing to community life, while the ‘wisdom and experience’ of older people was
considered a powerful untapped resource for the general good.
Positive developments: there was agreement that older people live longer, healthier
and more active lives, that more services and supports are available, and that countylevel initiatives have increased coordination of services, and mutual understanding.
A number of specific developments received positive mention, including home care
packages and the extension of community policing methods.
Challenges and gaps for services: there were useful insights, some unexpected:

Resources (funding and staffing) are a serious current problem contributing to
uneven provision of services, and there can be difficulties of coordination
between services.

Major issues for older people, such as loneliness and elder abuse, remain to be
fully addressed, and there is a lack of suitable accommodation for people as
they age (though views vary on what might be ‘suitable’).
18
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs

Age awareness/ anti-ageism training for staff would result in better experiences
for older people who access services.
Information is clearly a key issue for older people, since the role of information is
‘connecting people with services’. Currently there are many valuable information
initiatives, but drawbacks were identified with most commonly-used dissemination
methods. Most contributors agreed that lack of computers and internet access hinders
access for many older people to information that could improve their lives.
Identifying the disadvantaged/ excluded: responses identified a range of older
people at risk of exclusion in its various forms:





older men, especially from unskilled working backgrounds;
older tenants in privately rented accommodation;
those with disability (physical and intellectual), or serious and chronic ill-health;
the ‘oldest old’ living alone;
the ‘unlabelled excluded’ – isolated older individuals experiencing deprivation in
more affluent areas with few services and weak neighbourhood networks.
Proposals for new programmes and services to promote inclusion and well-being
included implementing plans already in place but not yet translated into action.
Contributors emphasised the important principles of consultation and personcentredness in designing new services, and suggestions were made for specific
services and activities to overcome isolation and offer opportunities for personal growth
in older age.
Inter-generational activities can break down age barriers, and a number of measures to
promote safety and security at home and in the outside environment would enhance
the lives of everyone in the county, not just the lives of older people.
-0–0–0-
19
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Chapter 2: Context: policy at international, national and
local level; the role of the Southside Partnership
2.1 Background: global trends and the Irish situation
We celebrate rising life expectancy in many regions of the world as one
of humanity’s major achievements. We recognise that the world is
experiencing an unprecedented demographic transformation…by 2050
the number of persons aged 60 years and over will increase…from 600
million (2000) to almost 2 billion and…the proportion of persons 60 years
and over is expected to double from 10 to 21 per cent…This
demographic transformation challenges all our societies to promote
increased opportunities, in particular opportunities for older persons to
realise their potential to participate fully in all aspects of life.
(United Nations Madrid Declaration, 2002, Article 2)
The UN also estimated that by mid-21st century, the old and the young will represent
equal shares of the world’s population, making it urgent for all countries to rethink
policy and strategy on older people. This entails changing the perspective from one
which sees them solely as an economic burden to one which supports ‘positive ageing’
and can utilise the ‘demographic bounty’ that this population trend represents.
Ireland is certainly experiencing its own demographic change, as its older population
grows relative to younger age groups, and older people live longer and healthier lives.
Already in 2006 11% of the population (465,000 people) were over 651, and this
proportion is estimated to rise to around 20% by 2036, with significant growth in the
numbers of people living beyond 80 years of age.
Alongside this changing profile, there are new factors such as: strengthened advocacy
by organisations of older people; improved data-gathering and much more extensive
academic research; the different expectations of younger cohorts of people
approaching or experiencing retirement, as well as a growing recognition by policymakers and service providers of the immense diversity of ‘older people’.
These are contributing to a rethinking of policies and approaches to the older Irish
population, at national and at local levels. The voices of older people are beginning to
be articulated and represented in national policy arenas, and they are increasingly
recognised as a force to be reckoned with, rather than a passive group of ‘service
receivers’.
So any study of the older population in a local area, such as Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
County, must be seen against this backdrop, and plans for initiatives and interventions
at county level to address needs and tap into their resources must be developed in the
context of up-to-date knowledge and understanding of their situation now – not based
on ideas from an earlier era about what it means to be ‘older’ in Ireland.
1
Central Statistics Office: Census 2006
20
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Terminology
Different definitions of ‘older’ are used in different contexts. While the UN refers to the
60+ population, and European usage has tended to define people as ‘older’ at 55, Irish
national demographic statistics (Central Statistics Office) and policy statements define
‘older’ as 65 plus, as do statutory services such as health and social welfare services.
However this research project for Southside Partnership aimed to explore as far as
possible the experiences of those over 55, in order to include the next generation of
‘older people’ alongside those who are already, at over 65, past the standard
retirement age and in receipt of services specifically for that age group.
2.2 International policy on older people
2.2.1 United Nations Principles for Older Persons (1991)
Responding to the fact of the growing number and proportion of older people globally
as both an achievement and a challenge, the United Nations General Assembly in
1991 published its agreed UN Principles for Older Persons, urging all national
governments to incorporate these into national policies and programmes. This
document is a touchstone for assessing progress towards realising the fullest possible
life for older people in a society.
It focuses on the rights of older people, outlining them in relation to five key areas:
Independence – including supports and services, work and learning opportunities,
safe environments, and the means of remaining at home as long as possible;
Participation - including full and active integration in society, involvement in plans and
policies that affect older people’s well-being, volunteering opportunities;
Care from family and community, health and social services, appropriate institutional
care based on human rights, dignity and privacy.
Self-fulfilment - developing one’s potential, and having access to society’s
educational, cultural, spiritual and recreational resources;
Dignity - fair and equal treatment, being valued irrespective of economic status, and
freedom from abuse.
(Full text in Appendix 1)
2.2.2 Madrid Declaration and International Plan of Action on Ageing
(2002)
At the second UN-convened World Assembly on Ageing, held in Madrid in 2002,
delegates adopted a comprehensive Plan of Action to achieve a ‘society for all ages’ in
which the rights of older people to full equality and the best possible quality of life are
fully supported and implemented.
The Declaration (full text in Appendix 1), published alongside the Plan, emphasises the
need for governments, who have the primary responsibility, to foster joint and
integrated action for change with ‘local authorities, civil society including NGOs, the
21
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
private sector, volunteers and voluntary organisations, older persons themselves and
associations for and of older persons, as well as families and communities’
(Declaration, Article 13).
The Plan of Action covers three priority areas, and the main themes are listed below:
Priorities:
Older persons and development;
Advancing health and well-being into old age;
Ensuring enabling and supportive environments.
Major themes include:
o
The full realisation of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of all older
persons;
o
The achievement of secure ageing …eradicating poverty in old age;
o
Empowerment of older persons to fully and effectively participate in the
economic, political and social lives of their societies… including incomegenerating and voluntary work;
o
Provision of opportunities for individual development, self-fulfilment and wellbeing…in late life, through…access to lifelong learning…;
o
The elimination of all forms of violence and discrimination against older
persons;
o
Commitment to gender equality among older persons through inter alia the
elimination of gender-based discrimination;
o
Recognition of the crucial support of families, intergenerational
interdependence, solidarity and reciprocity for social development;
o
Provision of health care, support and social protection for older persons,
including preventative and rehabilitative health care.
2.2.3 World Health Organisation: Global Age Friendly Cities: A Guide
(2007)
This important initiative, involving a range of different countries including Ireland and
based on extensive consultation with older people, focused on the UN priority area of
‘enabling and supportive environments’, highlighting the need to maximise the health
and well-being of the older population in the urban environments which are becoming
the norm world-wide.2
Pointing out that already in 2007 75% of older people in the developed world are urban
dwellers, the Guide emphasises that age friendly environments and communities
benefit the whole population, improving safety for women, small children, and those
with disabilities, reducing family stress by the provision of good services for older
people, and utilising the energies of older people, through employment and
volunteering, for the good of the community.
2
See http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2007/pr53/en/index.html
22
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
An eight–point framework covers the main areas for action and change:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Outdoor spaces and buildings
Transportation
Housing
Social participation
Respect and social inclusion
Civic participation and employment
Communication and information
Community support and health services
The document argues that some simple and cost-effective changes can be enormously
beneficial: for example, proper maintenance of pavements, provision of seating and
public toilets, and good local transport services enable older people to make best use
of the places in which they live, which enhances their overall well-being.
Alongside the Guide a shorter Checklist of Essential Features of Age Friendly Cities
(full text in Appendix 1) was produced, intended for practical use by individuals and
groups interested in making their city more age-friendly: ‘ For the checklist to be
effective, older people must be involved as full partners. In assessing a city’s strengths
and deficiencies, older people will describe how the checklist of features matches their
own experience of the city’s positive characteristics and barriers. They should play a
role in suggesting changes and in implementing and monitoring improvements.
(Checklist p 1)
(It is noteworthy that the poor state of some footpaths/ pavements and problems with
transport are among the most-mentioned issues in the survey carried out with the
Network for Older People in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, covered in Chapter 5).
2.3 The national context: policy and strategy
It is just over twenty years since the strategy document ‘The Years Ahead – a Policy for
the Elderly was published. Its valuable recommendations on the care of older people in
Ireland have only been partially implemented. In the context of the changing
demographic picture since then, and the changed circumstances and experiences of
many older people themselves, the government recognised the need for a new and
revised strategy, and in the Programme for Government 2007 committed itself to
developing a new national strategy for older people.
As part of this commitment, a Minister for State with responsibility for Older People was
appointed in 2007, and a supporting ministerial office established in January 2008.
Located in the Department of Health and Children, its role is to co-ordinate policy on
ageing and older people across relevant departments including Social and Family
Affairs and Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
In particular this office is responsible for developing a new National Positive Ageing
Strategy, which it aims to present by the end of 2009, after a consultation process
including dialogue with a range of relevant organisations.
23
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
A recently-established coalition of the main non-governmental organisations working
with and for older people3 is mounting an ‘Older and Bolder’ campaign, determined to
hold the government to this commitment and ensure the widest possible public
involvement in drawing up the strategy.
At the same time, ‘think tanks’ such as the Ageing Well Network are bringing
stakeholders together to identify priority issues, discuss future options and consider
international best practice; and research bodies are extending the existing body of
knowledge on older people in Ireland. In particular, TILDA (The Irish Longitudinal Study
on Ageing), launched in 2006, is a ten-year study of 8000 Irish people over 50, which
charts health, social and economic circumstances. It is hosted by Trinity College
Dublin, in collaboration with a range of experts from other academic institutions4.
All of these will support the development of the National Positive Ageing Strategy as a
framework within which policies and provision can be developed at a more local level.
Other developments such as the possibility of appointing an Ombudsman for Older
People are currently under consideration.
Specific government commitments: in terms of government policy, a number of
explicit commitments have recently been made to address the situation of older people
in Ireland. Important policy documents such as the Social Partnership Agreement
Towards 2016, the National Development Plan 2007-2013, and the New Programme
for Government 2007-2012 each outline a vision for the well-being of older people.
Towards 2016 commits government and social partners to work to realise a ‘vision’ for
older people in Ireland - a society in which:

Every older person would be encouraged and supported to participate to the
greatest extent possible in social and civic life;

Every older person would have access to an income which is sufficient to
sustain an acceptable standard of living;

Every older person would have adequate support to enable them to remain
living independently in their own homes for as long as possible. This will
involve access to good quality services in the community, including: health,
education, transport, housing and security, and;

Every older person would, in conformity with their needs and conscious of the
high level of disability and disabling conditions amongst this group, have access
to a spectrum of care services stretching from support for self-care through
support for family and informal carers to formal care in the home, the
community or in residential settings. Such care services should ensure the
person has opportunities for civic and social engagement at community level.
Towards 2016, Section 32: Older People
3
The Older and Bolder campaign coalition consists of: Active Retirement Ireland, Age and
Opportunity, Age Action Ireland, Alzheimer Society of Ireland, Carers Association, Irish Hospice
Foundation, Irish Senior Citizens Parliament and the Senior Helpline.
4
http://www.tilda.tcd.ie/
24
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Priority action areas are: pensions/ income supports; long-term care services; housing/
accommodation; mobility for older people; quality health services; education and
employment opportunities. (Full text in Appendix 1)
Social inclusion: specific targets were set out in the National Action Plan for Social
Inclusion 2007-2016, where the ’high levels goals’ for the support of older people relate
specifically to (1) increased provision of community care (including the new home care
packages) and (2) the improvement of income support, along with a review of the
current pension system.
Other areas for action include: housing and related services to improve home security,
access to further and higher education, provision of IT training, encouraging take-up of
paid employment by older people, and development of the Rural Transport Initiative.
The National Women’s Strategy 2007-2013 identified strategies for improving the wellbeing of older women, particularly in relation to financial security.
All of these national policy documents utilise the person-centred ‘life-cycle’ approach
set out by the National Economic and Social Council in the Developmental Welfare
State (2005) which provides a framework for addressing the issues people face at
different stages of their lives, and includes children, people of working age, older
people and people with disabilities.
Income and pension policy: as mentioned earlier, the National Action Plan for Social
Inclusion 2007-2016 includes, among priorities for government investment which will
ensure a good quality of life and tackle poverty among older people, options for
continuing employment through training and upskilling, as well as access to life-long
learning opportunities.
The continued participation of older people in the labour market will be
encouraged and facilitated…Training and advisory services…will assist
older people who wish to return to or remain in the workplace. (p.51)
The current Programme for Government 2007 contains a commitment to introducing
phased retirement, giving older people greater choice in this respect.
It also states the intention to raise the contributory state pension to at least €300 per
week by 2012, and to encourage private savings for pension purposes. The Green
Paper on Pensions, launched in 2007, aimed to stimulate debate and bring about
consensus among the main stakeholders, including workers themselves, on the best
way to achieve sustainable levels of post-retirement income for individuals and
households, in the light of changing demography.
Housing policy: the ambitious aim of current national housing policy, as set out in
Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities (2007), is
To enable every household to have available an affordable dwelling of
good quality, suited to its needs, in a good environment and, as far as
possible, at a tenure of its choice. (p.7)
25
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Provision of social and affordable housing by local authorities should be
directed towards creating integrated communities, and to supporting
individuals and households appropriately at different points in their life-span.
Following the life-cycle approach, accommodation for older people is
specifically considered in the policy document. Areas for action include:

Providing greater variety of housing options to enable people to change
accommodation to suit their needs as they age (such as the ‘financial
contribution schemes’ for exchanging a too-large private house for rented social
housing designed for older people);

Extending the grants schemes for adaptation of private housing for older people,
including those with disability, and targeting it to those most in need;

Use of the new Rental Accommodation Scheme to enable older people housed
in the private rented sector to move to more secure tenure;

Ensuring that local authorities (1) include in their Housing Action Plans a specific
strategy to meet the housing needs of older people, which will involve the
voluntary and cooperative housing sector, and (2) set up a cross-departmental
team to make progress on sheltered housing for the area.5
Health policy and strategies: at national level, the Health Service Executive (HSE)
has over the years published a range of strategies which address the needs of older
people, either specifically, or as part of a wider framework.
They include the 1998 Adding Years to Life and Life to Years: a Health Promotion
Strategy for Older People, developed jointly by the Department of Health and the
National Council on Ageing and Older People. It aimed to improve life expectancy and
health status of the over 65s and improve the lives and autonomy of those already
affected by illness and impairment.
The national Strategy to Prevent Falls and Fractures in Ireland’s Ageing Population,
published in 2008, aims to decrease the number of falls and fractures in the over-65
age group. The Falls Strategy recommends: an inter-agency assessment system;
increased emphasis on prevention; building bone health through exercise; health
promotion among older people; risk reduction and management services.
Older people were included as a target group in the National Health Promotion
Strategy 2000-2005, as they also were in A Vision for Change, the national mental
health strategy (published 2006), and in Reach Out, the national strategy for suicide
prevention (2005).
Although older people are not specifically named in the National Strategy for Service
User Involvement in the Irish Health Service 2008-2013, representatives of some older
people’s organisations participated in the development of the strategy, which
emphasises the involvement of groups experiencing poverty and social exclusion in the
shaping of the new primary health care services, and thus builds on the foundation of
the 2001 strategy, Primary Care: A New Direction. Demonstration projects are under
5
http://www.environ.ie/en/PublicationsDocuments/FileDownLoad,2092,en.pdf
26
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
way, but is not clear to what extent the voices of older people specifically are included
in the participation model currently being tested.
Elder abuse: in recent years the phenomenon of elder abuse has been increasingly
recognised by health service policy makers and practitioners. In 2002 Protecting our
Future: the Report of the Working Group on Elder Abuse was published, providing a
foundation for the development of policy and procedures to respond to actual or
alleged cases of elder abuse. Following this, the Department of Health and Children
established the Elder Abuse National Implementation Group, which made
recommendations for appropriate structures to safeguard older people at a more local
level. The HSE has been working to implement these structures and has appointed a
Senior Case Worker in most regional areas to handle allegations of elder abuse.
In 2008 the Minister for Health and Children launched an HSE training DVD for staff in
residential care settings, and a policy document, Responding to Allegations of Elder
Abuse, a set of guidelines for hospitals, community and primary care settings, and day
care centres. Pointing out the various forms that elder abuse can take (financial,
psychological, physical or sexual abuse or simply neglect), the Minister stated clearly
that they are all ‘unacceptable’ and that all services must work together for prevention
and tackling of abuse6. The HSE has recently published a further document, Elder
Abuse: Open Your Eyes (2009) which outlines incidences and outcomes of referrals of
elder abuse in each of the regional areas.
The Elder Abuse National Implementation Group recommended establishing a
dedicated national centre for research and evaluation on elder abuse. The Centre is
now established in the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems in UCD, and
will research elder abuse from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.
Carers: many older people are unpaid family carers or recipients of family care, and
one commitment in Towards 2016 was the development of a national strategy for the
support of carers. However in early March 2009, the Minister for Social and Family
Affairs announced its decision not to publish a National Carers’ Strategy at this time.
Community policing: The Garda Policing Plan 2009 makes specific reference to
engaging with older people, under its Strategic Goal 6: community engagement. It
seeks to ‘develop effective and innovative policing approaches to enhance our
engagement with older people in our communities…’ in order ‘to achieve a Garda
service that is partnership based and community oriented’. (p9)
Lifelong learning: the government’s White Paper, Learning for Life (2000), in a section
on services for older people, notes the high proportion of older adults who had only
primary level education, and the high proportion with literacy difficulties. The document
also recognises the potential of older people in adult education as providers and
mentors as well as learners. While no new recommendations for older people are
6
http://www.dohc.ie/press/releases/2008/20080613.html
27
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
made, the overall priority of literacy provision is underlined, and the policy of access for
all age groups to Back to Education initiatives re-stated.
Adult education is seen as playing a role in ‘contributing to active ageing…promoting
social integration…enhancing the quality of life, and providing training in new
technology for many whose mobility and access to information and communication
might otherwise be restricted’ (p.167)
Active Citizenship: it is notable that, where ‘older people’ feature in the report
submitted to government in 2007 by the Active Citizenship Taskforce, it is as the
vulnerable old: they figure as potential recipients of services, or as a group likely to be
excluded, alongside people with disability or new immigrants.
An accompanying statistical document reports on an ESRI survey commissioned by
the Taskforce, showing that, country-wide, people over 65 were less likely to be
volunteers or ‘actively involved in the community’ than any other age-group, but
particularly the 40 to 64 group. Equally, those with less than Leaving Cert. level
education were less likely to be active citizens in this sense.
The recommendations of the Taskforce did not include any proposals for maximising
the potential and resources of the older population.
Other strategies: there are a number of other national strategies in place which are
relevant to older people’s lives. Older people are specifically named as a target group
in some, such as the Irish Sport’s Council’s Go For Life programme, but not in others,
such as the Arts Council Strategy 2006-2010, or the Road Safety Strategy 2007-2012.
In 2008, the HSE Expert Advisory Group on Older People recommended adopting the
‘Teaghlach’ or ‘Household’ model of care for older people living in nursing homes and
residential care. This person-centred model is designed to promote the privacy,
independence and self-determination of older people’ and aims to make long-term
residential centres more like ‘home’ in terms of their design and layout, décor and
furnishings. Training for some staff took place in 2008 and a number of units in Cork
and Louth have begun to implement the model.7
The Louth: Age Friendly County initiative
A new initiative at county level, but with national potential, is the Louth: Age Friendly
County Strategy, launched in 2008 by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law
Reform. It aims to improve the lives and health of all older people in the county,
increase their participation in all areas of life, and make Louth ‘the best possible place
to grow old in’. 8
7
The Irish Times Health supplement 27.01.09 and HSE (2009) Annual Report 2008
Article in Ageing Matters 2009: ‘Louth goes age friendly’. December 2008-January 2009, pp 12-13. Age
Action Ireland.
8
News release: ‘Barrack Street project launched’, October 10th 2008, plus other information from the
Netwell Centre, Dundalk IT http://netwellcentre.ie
28
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
The first initiative of its kind in Ireland, it is intended as a flagship project, to be followed
by similar projects in other Irish counties in due course. Supported at government level,
it is based firmly on the WHO Friendly Cities guidelines, and their eight-point
framework for action (see above).
It is led by a partnership of agencies, including the County Development Board, County
Council, HSE, the Gardai, and the Dundalk Institute of Technology. Its progress will be
carefully monitored, and it hopes to show how significant improvements can be made
cost-effective through an imaginative and integrated use of existing resources –
including the resources of older people themselves. An Older People’s Forum for the
county is being established as a partner in the process, and the whole initiative is now
at the planning and consultation phase, with specific practical actions expected to
begin in summer 2009.
Louth is already at the forefront of thinking about housing and care in the community
for older people, with a new demonstration project of 16 adaptable housing units under
way. This uses sensor technology for energy-saving in the home, and for monitoring
and protecting the safety of older occupants, enabling people to continue living
independently for longer.
2.4 Local policy and strategy: Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
County
At local level, each County Development Board is required to develop a shared vision
for the long-term social, economic and cultural development of their county or city.
Some of these strategies identify older people as a ‘target group’, whilst others do not.9
The Dύn Laoghaire-Rathdown County Development Board Strategy, An Integrated
Strategy for Social, Economic and Cultural Development 2002-2012, was developed
following consultations with a range of groups and organisations in 2001- 2002. The
objectives and actions outlined in the Strategy are divided according to three strands

the social development strand

the economic development strand

the cultural development strand
Accompanying the strategy are three Strategic Action Implementation Plans, one for
2003-2005, another for 2006-2008 and the third for 2009-2011, which is to be approved
in the near future. These identify actions relating to the broader strategic plan, and their
progress is monitored and tracked by a variety of named lead stakeholders.
Within the social development strand in the 2003-2005 Strategic Action Implementation
Plan,10 three strategic objectives contain actions specifically directed to the situations of
older people. First, within the ‘Family Support Theme 1’ the strategic objective is ‘to
enhance the longevity, quality of life and care provision for the older citizen and to
9
Delaney S, Cullen K and Duff P (2005) The Social Inclusion of Older People at Local Level.
Dublin: WRC
10 http://www.dlrcdb.ie/strategy.pdf
29
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
recognise the contribution of older citizens in communities and the society of Dύn
Laoghaire-Rathdown’ (p.17).
Ten specific actions are listed, as follows (table 3.1 in the Strategy document)
Community care units for older people: influence all stakeholders including private
enterprise to ensure the realisation of the ECAHB’s objective of establishing 3 communitybased units similar to the Dalkey unit to provide care for older people in the county
Accident prevention: replicate and expand the pilot accident prevention programme
Personal alarms: develop a uniform county-wide system for the use of personal alarms by
older people
Benches: place more benches at critical and safe locations throughout the county to create
an environment where older people especially can be more active
Seats in shops: work with businesses to create seats in shops reserved for older people and
people with disabilities
Pedestrian crossings: publish a plan to improve and increase pedestrian crossings in the
county
Retirement planning courses: increase the offering of retirement planning courses in the
county and specifically engage employers to plan such courses as part of Human Resources
allocation of staff development time
IT training for older persons: implement a training of trainers programme to develop the
capacity of older people to train other older people in IT skills
Dissemination of information on services for older people: Put together a network of
organisations and businesses that will assist with the dissemination of information to older
people, specifically information pertaining to the activities of older people’s organisations
Annual exhibition for older people: host an annual exhibition event of projects and services
for older people in the county
‘Family Support Theme 2’: the strategic objective here is ‘to ensure all family support
services will be provided across the county by agencies in a coherent, integrated
manner at a local level’, and 3 actions address the older population (table 3.2):
Establish a county wide interagency forum on services for older people as a sub-group of
the healthy county forum
Establish a network of older persons’ organisations/voluntary groups
Update and produce a county-specific older persons information pack, and facilitate
presentations and discussions of information contained in the pack
These actions have since been undertaken: the services’ forum and the network have
been established, and the information pack is awaiting publication at the time of writing.
Finally, under the ‘Living Space Theme’ of the economic development strand, the
strategic objective is ‘to increase awareness of and ensure providers deliver inclusive
30
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
and innovative approaches to the living space needs of everyone in the county’ and
there are three actions specifically directed towards older people (table 10.2):
Best practice in accommodation for older people and people with disabilities: analyse
existing best practices in the public and private sectors with a view to improving living space
facilities with particular emphasis on older people and people with disabilities
Upgrade accommodation facilities for older people and people with disabilities: identify
the requirements for the upgrading of existing local authority accommodation facilities for
older people and people with disabilities
Source funding for upgrading local authority accommodation facilities: source funding to
facilities the development of a programme for the upgrading of existing local authority
accommodation facilities and services for older people and people with disabilities
A number of actions relating to older people also appear in other parts of the Strategy:
Strand
Theme
Strategic objective
Actions
Social
development
Education
To work with all providers of
and stakeholder in the county’s
education system to ensure
that anyone disadvantaged by
social exclusion,
marginalisation, location or
disability has access to
education
Education needs of target
groups: focus on the target
groups which are vulnerable to
social exclusion etc. People with
disabilities, early school leavers,
Travellers, ethnic minorities, older
people, lone parents, long-term
unemployed etc with regard to
their educational needs.
Rural
communities
To reduce the problem of
isolation experienced by many
residents of rural areas
through the provision of a rural
transport system
Access for older people in rural
areas: develop a programme to
improve access to services for
older people in rural areas
Arts
To harness the potential of the
county for artistic expression
and appreciation with the focus
on the role of arts as a medium
for inclusion of people and the
celebration of diversity
Accessible Arts programme:
bring theatre into local schools and
local residential areas, and to
those who wouldn’t normally be
able to access theatre e.g. young
offenders, senior citizens, persons
with impaired mobility
To encourage access by all
and for all to sports, recreation
and leisure activities and
facilities, particular those
funded of supported through
public funds
Older persons’ participation:
work with existing
organisations/bodies to increase
participation by older people in
sport, recreation and leisure, and
promote awareness about the
benefits of participation in exercise
Cultural
development
Sports
recreation and
leisure
In the Strategic Action Implementation Plan for 2006-2008, the overall objectives
remain the same; however, the actions targeted towards older people are different:
3.1.1 Care Provision for Older People: Explore models of care provision that are
appropriate to serve the needs of older people in the county.
31
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
3.1.2 Retirement Planning : Review and promote the offering of retirement planning
courses in the county and specifically promote the uptake of such courses well in advance of
retirement date.
3.1.3 Accident Prevention; Raise the awareness of accident prevention programmes
among older people themselves and the agencies serving older people.
3.1.4 ICT training for older people: Develop the services in the county that provide training
and facilities specific to the ICT needs of older people.
3.1.5 Public transport needs of older people: Assess the transport needs of older people
in the county and the extent to which existing public transport provision meet their needs.
3.2.1 Older People’s Information Pack: Update and produce a county-specific Older
Persons Information Pack and facilitate presentations and discussions of information
contained in the pack.
B16.5.1 Accessible Arts Programmes: Make arts and crafts programmes more accessible
to the wider community…Bring theatre into schools, residential areas, those that wouldn’t
normally have access to theatre, through the programme of access arts e.g. young offenders,
senior citizens, persons with impaired mobility, the disabled and other minority groups.
2.4.1 Educational Needs of Target Groups: Identify the educational needs specific to
vulnerable groups in the county and develop adequate responses to address such needs.
2.1.1 Support for Life Long Learning Programme Providers: Support life-long learning
providers to develop and offer responsive, accredited educational and training programmes to
increase participation of individuals at all stages of personal and career development.
In this second Implementation Plan, older people are included in many of the general
actions such as those concerning the analysis of health needs and healthy living,
innovative approaches to living space, and sustainable accommodation.
At the point where this report was being finalised, the third Strategic Action
Implementation Plan 2009 -2012 was launched. The document itself was not available
to the researchers, but they were informed that priorities for older people included:
 The promotion of retirement planning;
 Developing accident prevention awareness;
 Developing older people’s IT skills and extending access;
 Encouraging intergenerational activities;
 Continuing to raise awareness of elder abuse, as a preventative strategy.
An undated news release covering the launch, placed on the County Council website,
lists also ‘support of a local volunteer centre’ and ‘responding to the education and
training needs of the newly unemployed and other vulnerable groups’ though it does
not specify whether older people are included.11
11
www.dlrcoco.ie/PressReleases/CDB_Action_Plan.htm
32
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Accessibility and disability
As is recognised in many of the overall policy and strategy documents, the diversity of
older people encompasses a wide range of personal circumstances, health status,
views and needs, including those relating to disability.
Nationally, approximately 30% of all people over 65 have some sort of disability
(Census 2006) and this proportion increases with age. There are clearly overlaps
between the needs of those with a life-long disability, and those of older people who
acquire a disability or impairment as they age.
Under the provisions of the Disability Act 2005, each local authority is required to
develop its own accessibility plan, and design ‘measures to be taken to facilitate
access by person with disabilities to public roads, public places and buildings, the
provision of public services and information’.
The Accessibility Implementation Plan 2009 of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County
Council has three parts:

a general statement of intent and outline of objectives;

an outline of the priority issues identified in recent accessibility audits of publicly
accessible buildings, footpath networks, parks, cemeteries and open spaces;

an outline of objectives in terms of service and information delivery.

The overall intention is’ to foster an exemplary social, physical, economic and
cultural environment for all of the people living in, working in or visiting our
County’. The ‘accessibility ethos’ of the County covers ‘both physical and
attitudinal barriers’ and includes information services and staff training as well
as maintenance and development of the built environment. The Council sees
itself, because of its range of responsibilities, as ‘in a unique position to
dramatically impact on the lives of those who may have been traditionally
confined to their homes or excluded from participation’.12
Housing and the built environment
The vision of the County Development Plan 2004-2010 in relation to residential
development (Plan, chapter 5) is one of
vibrant and sustainable communities served by a wide choice of
dwelling units, where residents will be within walking distance of
shops, services, employment, education, leisure, community facilities
and amenities, and … enhanced public transport. (p.60)
The Plan takes cognisance of the life-cycle approach underpinning national
policy, since
it is recognised that viable and sustainable communities and
neighbourhoods consist of a mix of individuals – families, single
persons, young, elderly, student, traveller, and a corresponding mix of
accommodation types. (p.61)
12
http://www.dlrcoco.ie/gp/Accessibility_Plan_2009.doc
33
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
However, it is noteworthy that, whereas the national policy context, acknowledged in
the Plan as the starting point for local planning, makes reference to the principles
contained in the National Children’s Strategy, it still lacks a comparable National
Positive Ageing Strategy which could guide and lead local authority thinking.
Where older people’s housing needs are mentioned in the document, it is generally by
way of stating broad aims and principles, and encouraging a different approach by
developers, rather than specifying strategies:
One specific provision of the Plan, is intended to encourage developers to provide
‘elderly accommodation’ (sic), thus offering ‘empty nesters’ the choice to move to
more suitable housing. If a developer provides such accommodation is provided, the
amount of social/ affordable housing to be included in a new development is reduced
accordingly. (p. 64)
Further to the encouragement of a varied housing ‘mix’ in any development – which
should include ‘special needs housing’ - is the encouragement of ‘greater flexibility of
design…so that residential units can evolve with their occupants’ needs, e.g. by
combining apartments, or the ability to extend into attic space’ (p.66). However, a rather
different type of designing for reconfiguration, to provide for people as they age, is not
mentioned here.
Under the heading of ‘Social Housing’ this Plan states the local authority’s intention to
follow the principles of the government policy document of 2000, Action on Housing,
which includes ‘ensure the provision of …sheltered housing for the elderly’. (p.66)
In addition, in a section devoted to ‘increasing residential density’, one of the standards
to be met in new developments is that ‘consideration [is] given to the needs of children,
elderly and disabled’. (p.75)
Chapter 8 of the Plan is entitled ‘Communities’ and covers safety and security in
residential areas, under the broad aim of ‘facilitat[ing] the achievement of a safe
environment for residents of and visitors to the County’. This is seen as an element of
quality of life, and the Council’s objective is
To develop an environment of natural surveillance on public walkways
and open spaces by encouraging supervised people-centred
activities…[and] improve the use of targeted lighting and CCTV cameras
in liaison with An Garda Siochana (p.109)
The Draft County Development Plan 2010 – 2016, currently open for public
consultation and submissions, reiterates many of these broad principles and intentions,
and refers to more recent government policy guidelines, Building Homes, Sustaining
Communities (2007). Continuing to use the terminology ‘elderly’, the Draft Plan is more
specific in some respects than its predecessor, for example in relation to desirable
aspects of housing for older people:
It is Council policy that proposals for accommodation for the elderly
should be located in existing residential areas well served by
infrastructure and amenities such as footpath networks, local shops,
public transport, in order not to isolate residents and allow for better care
in the community, independence and access.
34
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
This principle of connection to the community and its facilities will apply to all types of
accommodation for older people, including ‘facilities providing higher levels of care,
self-contained units or a mix of these’ (p.42).
Arts policy
Arts development is now considered to be part of local government planning, and the
remit of the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Arts Office Education and Community
Programme is to develop and co-ordinate arts programmes aimed at various
population groups in the county. One programme targeting older people is the Arts and
Health Programme, in which the Health Promotion Department of HSE Dublin MidLeinster is a strategic partner.
The DLR Arts Strategy 2007-2010 (2007) recognises the contribution of the arts to
citizens’ quality of life. The Strategy’s Goal 3 - ‘Public Participation in the Arts’ - and its
associated actions identify older people as one specific group to be included. With the
overall aim of ‘creat[ing] dynamic and exciting opportunities for people to engage with
the arts as audiences and participants’, the first action listed is:
To develop an arts access policy which supports public participation
(including children, young people, community and older people) in all
strands of the County Council arts programmes.
Strategy, p.27
-0–0–0–
35
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Chapter 3 Older people in Ireland and older people in
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown: demographic and statistical
information
3.1 Older people in the national demographic picture
In common with other countries globally, and especially those in the industrialised
world, the demographic profile of older Irish people is changing. Because people are
generally living longer and healthier lives, older people constitute a growing section of
the population. Although Ireland’s population profile is still relatively young compared to
many other European countries, current and projected demographic changes have
considerable implications for national policy and provision in areas such as pensions
and income support, retirement policy, health services generally and provision of
community-based services and supports, residential care for older people, and the
protection of vulnerable older people.
Table 1 shows the age profile of the Irish population at the most recent census (2006).
Table 1: Irish population figures 2006
Age group
Males
Females
All persons
0-14
443,044
421,405
864,449
15-24
321,007
311,725
632,732
25-44
681,988
663,885
1,345,873
45-64
468,037
460,831
928,868
65 years and over
207,095
260,831
467,926
TOTAL
2,121,171
2,118,677
4,239,848
Source: CSO 2007
In 2006, there were 467,926 people aged 65 years or over in the Irish population,
54,000 more than in 1996, and making up 11% of the population. While absolute
numbers have grown, the proportion of older people in the population has remained
fairly stable: the corresponding percentage in 1991 was 11.45%.
At 11% of the whole, this was the lowest proportion of people aged 65 or over across
all of the EU 27 countries, where the average proportion was 16.8%, with the highest
proportions in Germany (19.3%) and Italy (19.7%). Ireland’s unusual profile arises both
from the relative youth of its population overall, and recent population increases due to
immigration, mainly involving people in younger age groups.
However, on current projections, the proportion of people aged 65 years and over in
Ireland is expected to rise to 20% by 2036, with absolute numbers increasing to
1,145,300, an increase of almost 250% over the 2006 figure. The greatest increase is
expected to be in the over-80 age group, where a trebling of the numbers is
anticipated. However, no figures were available at the time of writing to suggest the
36
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
likely impact of recent changes in immigration due to the economic downturn of 20082009.
The ‘oldest old’: in 2006, among the Irish population of people aged 65 years or over,
24.1% were aged 80 years or over. This figure has shown a steady increase since the
1930s and 1940s, when it was around 12%; in 1986 it was 17.8%. There were more
women over 80 than men – they formed 29.1% and 19.1% respectively of the over-65
age group.
Gender balance: in 2006, in the whole population of people aged 55 years and over in
Ireland, there were 79.4 men to every 100 women, with roughly equal numbers in the
55-69 age groups, but declining beyond that age, so that in the 80-84 age group, there
were 61.4, and in the over-85 age group 44.7, men for every 100 women. However,
there were marked differences between urban and rural settings, with 89.9 men to
every 100 women in rural areas compared to 72 men to every 100 women in urban
areas.
In terms of marital status, while proportions of single and divorced men and women
were not dissimilar, approximately 64% of men aged 65 years and over were married,
compared with only 39% of women; 44% of women were widowed, compared to only
14% of men.
Life expectancy in Ireland in general has continued to improve since the foundation of
the State, with life expectancy at birth increasing by about 20 years for men and 24
years for women over the past 80 years, in large part due to improved infant mortality
rates. CSO figures for 2009 show women’s average life expectancy at birth to be 81.6
years, and men’s 76.8 years, compared to only 57 and 58 years in the 1920s. In
addition, the large gap between men’s and women’s life expectancy at birth, which was
a feature of recent decades, is now narrowing, possibly because men are taking better
care of their health.
(However, there are fears that in future, the positive trends for both sexes may be
reversed because of life-style factors, in particular the growing incidence of obesity13)
Life expectancy at age 65: Department of Health and Children figures show that men
aged 65 in 2001-2003 could expect on average another 15.4 years, as opposed to 13.8
in 1995-97. For women aged 65 in 2001-2003, the corresponding figure was 18.7
years, compared to 17.4 years in 1995-1997. (DOHC (2007) Health in Ireland Key
Trends.)
European figures : According to the Institute of Public Health, although life
expectancy is on the increase ‘Ireland still lags behind most of the rest of Europe. In
2006, Irish male life expectancy ranked in joint 12th place with Luxembourg, while Irish
female life expectancy ranked 16th among EU member states’.14
13
14
Irish Times article, 30-01-09
Irish Times article, 30-01-09
37
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
3.2 Older people in Dύn Laoghaire Rathdown
Introduction: measuring deprivation
For an accurate understanding of the circumstances of older people in Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown, and in particular the likelihood of their experiencing deprivation and social
exclusion, it is important to be aware of the fact that the official measures of exclusion
can be misleading. These have traditionally been based on comparisons of the
proportions of people in each electoral division (ED) affected by a particular
circumstance, such as early school leaving or disability. This method of analysis has
resulted in a deceptively positive social profile of the county as one characterised
principally by affluence rather than deprivation.
However, as the recently published Social Inclusion Profile of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
points out, these ‘existing methodologies for mapping deprivation…do not necessarily
measure effectively nor reveal the true extent of or concentration of exclusion’ and the
real position is very different’.15
This new social inclusion profile is based on absolute numbers rather than
percentages, and paints a very different picture, showing clearly that
Areas [in other counties] officially considered more disadvantaged, and
in some cases considerably more deprived, than DLR exhibit smaller
numbers of persons falling into one or more social inclusion indicators
than seen in DLR. In other words, the numbers in DLR may be
larger…This finding suggest that there is a greater ‘on the ground’ need
in DLR than in such areas. (page v)
In addition, the GAMMA report prepared for the DLR County Development Board in
2008 issued a further word of caution regarding the potentially distorting effect of the
very different sizes of the electoral divisions used in maps displaying local demographic
data – some of which are used in the present report. The disproportionate sizes of the
69 EDs in the county (the largest of which are the most sparsely populated) can be
extremely deceptive in terms of showing the overall reality of, for example, population
growth or decline at local level. A graphic indication of the Dublin Mountains area of the
county was overlaid on some of the GAMMA maps as a reminder of this fact (see
figure 3 p.10 of the present report)16
Aocial Inclusion Profile of
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown
for Southside Partnership DLR
Research and Report by
Niall Watters, Unique PerspectivesA
Social Inclusion Profile of
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown
15
Watters N, Unique Perspectives, 2009: A Social Inclusion Profile of Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown. Southside Partnership. (Quotation from the Foreword, no page number)
16 GAMMA: Dún Laoghaire Rathdown; Demographic & Socio-Economic Profile. Report
prepared for CDB, 2008 (p. 3)
38
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
for Southside Partnership DLR
Research and Report by
3.2.1 Background: general population data for DLR
Population change: The total population of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown (DLR) was
194,038 in 2006. In common with other counties in Ireland, the overall population of the
county has continued to grow, as table 2 shows.
Table 2: Population of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown 1996 - 2006
Dún Laoghaire
1996
2002
2006
Males
90,435
91,337
92,899
Females
99,564
100,455
101,139
Totals
189,999
191,792
194,038
Rathdown
Source: GAMMA (2008) Report for DLR CDB
However, the rate of growth in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown has slowed over the last three
inter-censal periods, and has been slower than in the rest of the Greater Dublin Area
(GDA), of which it is a part. In 2002, DLR accounted for 4.9% of the population of the
State, and 12.5% of the population in the GDA, whereas in 2006 it accounted for 4.6%
of the population of the state and 11.7% of the GDA.
Areas of growth and decline: the overall growth rate of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown’s
population in the ten-year period to 2006 was just over 2%, but population growth has
been very uneven across the county, with substantial growth in areas in the south
which have areas of newer housing and proximity to the M 50, including: Glencullen
(72% increase between 1996 and 2006), Loughlinstown and parts of Dundrum/
Sandyford. In contrast, population declined in older areas like Dún Laoghaire, Killiney
and Dundrum.
Gender balance: unlike the pattern elsewhere in the country, women outnumbered
men both in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown and the Greater Dublin Area in 2006, as they
had in earlier censuses. In DLR they formed just over 52% of the whole population,
outnumbering men by approximately 8,000. In the GDA women formed just 51 % of the
whole population, and outnumbered men by almost 22,000.
3.2.2 Older people in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown: the over- 65s
While the Dublin area overall (including DLR) has a younger profile than Ireland as a
whole, the situation in Dύn Laoghaire Rathdown County is different. Its percentage of
people aged 65 or over in 2006 was, at 13.4%, higher than the national average of
11% and the Greater Dublin Area figure of 10.3%.
The county’s number of older people has increased at twice the national rate, and is
growing relative to other age groups within the DLR population, as table 3 shows:
39
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Table 3: Numbers aged 65 and over 1996 – 2006, as percentage of population
DLR
GDA
Ireland
1996
11.30% (21,486)
9.67% (13,5987
11.41% (413,882)
2002
12.42% (23,830)
9.64% (147,982)
11.13% (436,001)
2006
13.39% (25,987)
9.67% (160,837)
11.04% (467,926)
Source:GAMMA (2008) Report for DLR CDB
As would be expected, the bulk of the population in Laoghaire Rathdown was in the
age groups between 15 and 64, but there were almost almost 26,000 people over 65
in 2006. An analysis of Census 2006 figures carried out for Southside Partnership by
Unique Perspectives (2009) shows:
Table 4: Dún Laoghaire Rathdown population numbers by age in 2006:
Area
0-14
15-64
65+
TOTAL
DLR
35,244
132,807
25,987
194,038
Source: Census 2006
The charts below demonstrate the difference in population profile between Dύn
Laoghaire Rathdown and the Greater Dublin Area in 2006 by looking at five year
interval age ranges. These clearly show greater numbers and concentration in the
older age groups, and lesser numbers in the younger age groups and of those of
working age in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown compared to Greater Dublin.
In 1996, these population ‘pyramids’ had roughly the same shape, so this shows a
significant shift in overall population profile over the ten-year period.
/ see over
40
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Figure 1: 2006 Population age structures, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown and Greater Dublin
Area
GAMMA (2008) Report prepared for DLR CDB
41
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
3.2.3 The broader older population: 55 plus
While national census information defines ‘older people’ as aged 65 years or over, it is
vital for the purposes of forward planning and policy-making to consider those aged 55
years and over. (As far as possible, this has been the scope of this research project
also).
Figure 2 below shows the age and gender profile for people aged 55 years and over
who were resident in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown in 2006.
Analysis of Census figures shows that altogether, the total number of people aged 55
years and over living in DLR was 46,246, or almost 24% of the total population (for a
complete age breakdown by year, see Appendix 2).
Taking this larger group of older people as a starting point, the figures clearly
demonstrate how women outnumber men in each of the age categories, and that this
pattern is accentuated as the population ages, with the greatest disparity being in the
group aged 85 years and over.
Figure 2: Population of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown aged 55 years and over
Population of DLR aged 55 years and over
6000
numbers
5000
Population of DLR from
55 years and above
males
4000
3000
Population of DLR from
55 years and above
females
2000
1000
0
5559
6064
6569
7074
7579
80- 85+
84
ages
Source: CSO Census 2006: Small Area Population Statistics
3.2.4 Old age dependency ratio: national and DLR figures
The old age, or ‘elderly’, dependency ratio refers to the proportion of people of pension
age in any given population relative to ‘those in the work force’, i.e. aged 15-64 years.
This ratio has remained relatively stable over recent years in Ireland overall, although it
is set to change significantly in the years to come as the population ages.
The CSO predicts, based on current population trends that the current rate of 16.4% in
2006 will grow to 25.1% in 2026, and projections in the government’s Green Paper on
Pensions suggest that it will grow to 32% by 2036.
In Dún Laoghaire Rathdown as a whole, the old age dependency ratio increased by
17% during the period 1996-2006, moving from 167 per thousand to 196 per thousand
42
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
(GAMMA report for DLR CDB 2008). This is in contrast to the situation both in the
Greater Dublin area, and in Ireland in general, where the elderly dependency ratio fell
somewhat during the same period. This overall figure masks marked variations across
the county, which the above map below reveals (though some of the high
concentrations may be due to the presence of residential facilities/ nursing homes in
certain areas).
Figure 3: Old age/ elderly dependency rates, electoral divisions of Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown 2006
Source: GAMMA (2008) Report for DLR CDB p.23
43
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
3.3 The contribution of older people
Many older people make contributions to their communities, and do this in a variety of
ways. Their contributions include engagement in voluntary and community groups,
unpaid work in local charities, and providing personal care to a friend, relative or
neighbour. And many older people are engaged in multiple activities of this kind.
3.3.1 Older people as volunteers
According to CSO figures for 2006, approximately 20% of men and 22% of women
between 55 and 64 years (almost 86,000 people) said they were involved in some form
of voluntary activity. 15% (almost 70,000) of all those aged 65 years and above were
engaged in some form of voluntary work, with the most active being in the 65-69 age
group (almost 19% of men and 21% of women).
Figures are not available to provide an age breakdown of older people in Dún
Laoghaire Rathdown who engage in voluntary activity, but the table below indicates
that in the county, as compared to the Greater Dublin area, a somewhat higher
percentage of people aged 15 yrs or over were involved in such activities
(approximately 19% compared to 15%).
Table 5: Voluntary activities of all people aged 15 years and over, Dublin and DLR
Area
Total
persons
Persons involved in voluntary activity aged 15 years and above
Helping or
voluntary
work with a
social or
charitable
organisation
Helping
or
voluntary
work with
a
religious
group or
church
Helping or
voluntary
work with a
sporting
organisation
Helping or
voluntary
work with a
political or
cultural
organisation
Any
other
voluntary
activity
Total
persons
involved
in one or
more
voluntary
activity
Total
persons
not
involved
in
voluntary
work
(incl. not
stated
Dublin
969,524
51,372
40,396
37,989
12,456
37,680
144,388
825,136
DLR
158,794
10,938
7,955
7,669
2,260
7,705
29,669
129,125
Source: CSO, Census 2006 and Small Area Population Statistics 2006
Note: numbers of those listing various types of voluntary activity total more than 29,669, as
some people will have registered involvement in more than one type.
The chart below shows in graphic form the numbers of people over 15 engaged in
various types of voluntary activity in Dún Laoghaire.
44
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Figure 4: Numbers engaged in various voluntary activities in Dún Laoghaire, 2006.
number of people over 15 engaged in voluntary work
in DLR
Voluntary work in
social/charity
7,705
10,938
Voluntary work in
religion
Voluntary work in sport
2,260
Voluntary work in
politics/culture
7,669
7,955
Any other voluntary
work
Source: CSO (2006) and Small Area Population Statistics 2006
It is interesting to note that the greatest number of people are involved in ‘social or
charitable organisations’, with similar numbers involved in voluntary work connected to
religion and voluntary work in sport, mirroring the pattern in the Greater Dublin Area.
Gender analysis indicates that more women are involved in voluntary social, charitable
and religious activities whereas more men are involved in voluntary sporting activities,
and slightly more to voluntary work in politics and culture.
There has been some debate about whether levels of volunteering have been declining
over recent years in Ireland. The table below shows results from a sample survey
conducted by the ESRI in 2006 for the government’s Taskforce on Active Citizenship,
using somewhat different criteria to those in the Census form. These results suggest
that this is not the case for older people at least, as they show a recent large increase
over low levels of active engagement and volunteering in 2002. However, the
Taskforce advises caution in drawing definitive conclusions from these figures.
Table 6: Over 65s volunteering or actively engaged in their community
Regular volunteer
Proportion of
people aged 65
years and over
Actively engaged in community
2002
2006
2002
2006
6.1%
14.8%
7.3%
19.1%
Report of Taskforce on Active Citizenship; Statistical Evidence on Active Citizenship (2007)
45
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
3.3.2 Older people as voters
With regard to voting behaviour, people aged 65 and over in Ireland have tended to
participate politically in greater numbers than their younger counterparts. Data for the
2007 General Election were not available at the time of writing, but in the May 2002
General Election there was an overall turnout of 74% of those aged between 18-64
years and eligible to vote, but 86.3% of eligible people aged 65 and over actually voted.
The main reason given by those over 65 years not voting was illness or disability (CSO
2007). It is unlikely that voting habits in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown would be different.
3.3.3 Older people as carers
National picture
In 2006, 4.8% of all persons in Ireland, and 3.9% of those over 65, classified
themselves as carers; the comparable figure for all of those aged between 15 and 64
was 4.9%.
Carers formed 4.8% of the 65-69 age group , and the proportion dropped to 3.7% for
the 75-79 age group, and to 1.8% for the 85 and over age group.
Overall, more women than men described themselves as carers, but whereas up to
age 79, more women than men were carers, in the oldest age groups there was a
higher proportion of men than women, although numbers were small.
In terms of actual numbers, there were 18,152 people over 65 in Ireland describing
themselves as carers in 2006; of these 11,009 were women and 7,143 were men.
[NB This information relates to people providing unpaid care to family members, friends
or neighbours, not paid professional care staff nursing or assisting people in their
homes.]
Table 7: Percentage of age group describing themselves as carers, 2006
% of age group
Age group
Males
Females
Persons
65-69
3.6
5.9
4.8
70-74
3.5
4.9
4.3
75-79
3.5
3.9
3.7
80-84
3.3
2.7
2.9
85 & over
2.5
1.5
1.8
65 & over
3.4
4.2
3.9
15-64
3.6
6.2
4.9
Source: CSO (2007) Ageing in Ireland
Time spent caring: in 2006, 37% of all carers aged over 65 provided up to 14 hours of
unpaid help each week, while 49% provided 43 or more hours (effectively full time), as
is illustrated in the table below:
46
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Table 8: Hours of unpaid help provided by carers aged 65 and over in 2006
Hours per
week
Males
% of all carers over 65 by sex
Females
Persons
1-14
38.9
35.8
37.0
15-28
8.4
8.1
8.2
29-42
6.3
6.1
6.2
43 & over
46.4
50.0
48.6
Total
100.0
100.0
100.0
Source: CSO (2007) Ageing in Ireland
Those receiving carer’s payments: there were nearly five times as many women as
men aged 65 and over receiving carers’ payments nationally in 2005. Table 9 shows
the numbers between 1996 - 2005
Table 9: Persons over 65 in Ireland receiving carers’ payments, 1996 - 2005
no. of persons
% of all male/female recipients
Year
Males
Females
Males
Females
1996
104
610
6.0
9.3
1997
124
862
5.7
10.8
1998
164
1,078
6.3
12.2
1999
219
1,312
7.2
11.5
2000
284
1,555
8.2
11.9
2001
323
1816
8.5
11.8
2002
357
2048
8.5
12.2
2003
412
2248
9.4
12.8
2004
462
2408
10.0
13.1
2005
506
2447
10.4
11.7
Source: CSO (2007) Ageing in Ireland
The situation in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
Figures drawn from the Small Area Population Statistics from Census 2006 regarding
carers in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown show that 4.8% of the population (7,544 people)
across all age groups were carers, and as Watters(2009) points out, this is the same as
the national average, and slightly higher than Dublin overall.
47
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Table 10: Number and percentages of carers by unpaid care hours per week, 2006
Total no
of
carers
Area
Number of carers
1-14
hrs per
week
Southside
Partnership
15 – 28
hrs per
week
% of carers
29-42
hrs per
week
43 plus
hrs per
week
1-14 hrs
per
week
15 – 28
hrs per
week
29-42
hrs per
week
43 plus
hrs per
week
7,544
5,014
717
338
1,475
66.5%
9.5%
4.5%
19.6%
Dublin
42,243
25,278
4,466
2,552
9,947
59.8%
10.6%
6.0%
23.5%
BMW
45,114
25,358
4,826
2,808
12,122
56.2%
10.7%
6.2%
26.9%
S and E
115,803
68,005
12,267
6,770
28,761
58.7%
10.6%
5.8%
24.8%
National
160,917
93,363
17,093
9,578
40,883
58.0%
10.6%
6.0%
25.4%
Source:CSO Small Area Population Statistics (from Census 2006)
The table above also indicates that in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, compared to Greater
Dublin and to other parts of the country and nationally, a higher percentage of carers
provided under 15 hours a week, while a lower percentage provided over 43 hours a
week.
The following table identifies the 30 electoral divisions in the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
County in which there were over 100 people of all age groups providing care for others
in 2006. Most striking is the high numbers of carers in the Glencullen area, where there
were 405 people providing care, 88 of those providing more than 43 unpaid hours per
week. Areas which had roughly double this number in 2006 were Blackrock-Carysfort,
Cabinteely-Pottery, Dundrum-Ballally, Foxrock-Carrickmines, and Killiney South.
This information may be helpful in the analysis of the profiles (including age profiles)
and needs of carers across the county.
Table 11: Geographical areas in DLR with more than 100 carers in 2006
Geographical area
Total
number of
carers
Numbers of unpaid care hours per week
1-14 hrs
15-28 hrs
29-42 hrs
43+ hrs
Ballinteer-Broadford
122
78
14
8
22
Ballinteer-Woodpark
146
94
15
6
31
Ballybrack
126
82
8
8
28
Blackrock-Booterstown
112
70
14
5
23
Blackrock-Carysfort
207
147
23
13
24
Blackrock-Central
134
97
9
2
26
Blackrock-Monkstown
136
103
11
7
15
48
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Blackrock-Templehill
114
75
9
2
28
Cabinteely-Granitefield
120
74
13
4
29
Cabinteely-Kilbogget
112
69
14
3
26
Cabinteely-Pottery
194
130
16
10
38
Churchtown-Nutgrove
132
72
13
6
41
Dundrum-Balally
207
138
21
6
42
Dundrum-Kilmacud
105
74
8
4
19
Dundrum-Sandyford
193
144
20
8
21
Dún Laoghaire-Glasthule
117
76
13
8
20
Dún Laoghaire-Sallynoggin E.
127
82
11
8
26
Dún Laoghaire-Sandycove
173
120
15
8
30
Foxrock-Carrickmines
257
180
15
9
53
Foxrock-Deans Grange
103
71
6
3
23
Glencullen
405
263
39
15
88
Killiney-north
154
109
12
3
30
Killiney-south
227
133
35
12
47
Shankill-Rathmichael
171
110
18
12
31
Shankill-Rathsallagh
128
72
15
7
34
Shankill-Shanganagh
140
82
11
5
42
Stillorgan-Deerpark
128
92
6
3
27
Stillorgan-Kilmacud
171
118
15
5
33
Stillorgan-Leopardstown
106
74
12
2
18
Stillorgan-Merville
100
75
15
5
5
Source: CSO Small Area
Population Statistics 2006
Estimated number of older carers: On the assumption that the DLR pattern is not
very different from that of the country as a whole, it is possible that the county had just
over 1,000 carers over 65 (i.e. 3.9% of the over- 65 age group, who numbered 25,987
at the last Census)
Estimated older carers receiving carer’s allowances: Only a small proportion (6%
or 443 individuals) of carers of all ages were in receipt of (means-tested) carers’
allowance (information supplied to Watters by the DSFA) with the following areas each
having around 10% of this group of 443: Ballybrack, Blackrock, Dundrum, Dún
Laoghaire (62 or 14% of the whole), Sallynoggin, Sandyford and Shankill.
49
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Since the county figures regarding older carers generally seem close to the national
figures, it may be estimated that only around one in five of the over-65 carers were in
receipt of carer’s allowance.
Further investigation would be needed to ascertain whether these estimates are
correct.
50
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
3.4 Older people as residents of Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown
3.4.1 Housing circumstances of older people
The diversity of older people in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown is naturally matched by the
wide range of their housing circumstances, including:

Owner occupation

Social housing – local authority or housing association owned

Supported housing (with caretaker: local authority, housing
association, or other voluntary body)

Residential care (including nursing homes and older people’s
homes, both private and state sector)

Private rented accommodation

Traveller accommodation
GAMMA data prepared for the County Development Board in 2008 set out the numbers
of older people in the various housing categories in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, based
on figures from Census 2006:
Table 12: Housing circumstances of people over 65 in DLR in 2006
Housing circumstances
Number of people
%
Not stated
2,003
7.9
Owner occupied with loan
1,714
6.8
19,068
75.8
Purchasing from local authority
474
1.9
Rented from the local authority
958
3.8
Rented from a voluntary body
138
0.5
Private rented - unfurnished
205
0.8
Private rented - furnished
243
1.0
Occupied free of rent
324
1.3
25,127
100
Owner occupied without loan
Total
Source: GAMMA (2008) report for DLR CDB
Note: there is a discrepancy (of 860) between the above number and the total number of people over 65
years. This may be explained by some who are resident in communal establishments or others in religious
orders.
The table below shows the relative proportions of older people in DLR in the different
categories, with well over three-quarters owning their own homes outright, and only
small numbers in each of the other categories, including local authority housing.
51
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Figure 5: Housing circumstances of over 65s in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, 2006
Housing circumstances of people over 65 years in
DLR (n =25,127)
not stated 2003
owner occupier 20,782
rented from LA 958
rented from voluntary body
138
occupied free of rent 324
purchasing from LA
474
private rented 448
Source: GAMMA (2008) report for DLR CDB
3.4.2 Location of older people in the county
Analysis of the places of residence of older people in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown by
electoral division indicates that, in 42 of the 69 electoral divisions in 2006, the
proportion of residents aged 65 years or more was higher than the county average of
13.4% (Watters, 2009) – see map below.
52
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Figure 6: Electoral divisions: proportion of over 65s in total population of each, 2006
Source: Watters(2009) Social Inclusion Profile for Southside Partnership
53
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Those electoral divisions with over 20% of their population aged over 65 years were:
Table 13: Electoral divisions with more than 20% population aged over 65 in 2006
Electoral Division
%
Dún Laoghaire-Sallynoggin south
25.8
Dalkey-Hill
25.2
Dalkey-Bullock
23.6
Dalkey-Coliemore
21.6
Dalkey-Avondale
21.6
Dún Laoghaire-West Central
21.4
Dún Laoghaire-Monkstown Farm
21.1
Foxrock-Beechpark
23.8
Ballinteer - Meadowbroads
23.4
Churchtown-Orwell
24.2
Churchtown-Castle
20.9
Churchtown-Landscape
22.0
Dundrum -Sweetmount
22.0
These electoral divisions fall into two groups: those on the west side of DLR: Ballinteer
(1 ED) Churchtown (3 EDs) and Dundrum-Sweetmount (1 ED) and those on the east
side: Dalkey (4 EDs), Dún Laoghaire (3 EDs) and Foxrock-Beechpark (1 ED).
Electoral divisions with proportions of between 13% and 20% of their population aged
65 years or over are listed below in descending order below:
Table 14: Electoral divisions with between 13.4% and 20% of those aged over 65 in 2006
Electoral Division
%
Dún Laoghaire-Glasthule
19.8
Dalkey-Upper
19.6
Stillorgan-Kilmacud
19.6
Dún Laoghaire-Sandycove
19.1
Stillorgan-Deerpark
18.7
Blackrock-Williamstown
18.0
Dún Laoghaire-Sallynoggin West
17.7
Foxrock-Deans Grange
17.7
Ballinteer-Ludford
17.3
Churchtown-Woodlawn
17.0
Blackrock-Stradbrook
16.9
Blackrock-Newpark
16.8
Clonskeagh-Windy Arbour
16.8
Clonskeagh-Farranboley
16.7
Ballinteer-Meadowmount
16.4
54
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Cabinteely-Granitefield
16.4
Blackrock-Monkstown
16.2
Dún Laoghaire-Glenageary
16.1
Dundrum-Taney
16.0
Stillorgan-Mount Merrion
15.9
Dún Laoghaire-Sallynoggin East
15.8
Stillorgan-Merville
15.6
Churchtown-Nutgrove
15.5
Clonskeagh-Roebuck
15.1
Stillorgan-Leopardstown
15.0
Cabinteely-Pottery
14.9
Shankill-Shanganagh
14.3
Blackrock-Templehill
13.8
Dún Laoghaire-Salthill
13.7
Source: Census 2006.
The areas with the lowest percentages of older people (well below the overall county
average) include the Clonskeagh Belfield ED (6.8%) electoral division, along with very
sparsely populated areas such as Tibradden, (4.4% older people) and areas of newer
housing developments, mostly in the south of the county such as Dundrum-Sandyford
(6.8%) and Cabinteely-Loughlinstown (5.2%). These figures reflect clearly some of the
complexity of settlement and population patterns in the county, where different
generations of one family may often live at some distance from each other .
3.4.3 Older people living alone
National position in Ireland
Gender dimension: Overall, more women than men live alone in Ireland. According to
recent statistics, the proportion of women aged 65 years and over living alone in
Ireland was 31.7%, the eighth lowest of EU 27 countries, but the rate for men was the
fourth highest at 20.6.%17. In 2006, two thirds of all those over 65 years were living in
private households with other people, whereas 27% of the overall age group were
living alone. However, there is a changing pattern as people age:
78.3% of people aged 65-69 lived in private households with others; 19.4% lived alone;
71.7% of people aged 70-74 lived in private households with others; 25.1% lived alone;
62.5% of people aged 75-79 lived in private households with others; 31.7% lived alone;
53.1% of people aged 80-84 lived in private households with others; 35.4% lived alone
43.7% of people aged 85+ lived in private households with others; 31.7% lived alone.
In the oldest age groups there was an increasing proportion of people living in
‘communal establishments’ :11.4% of those aged 80-84 and 25% of those over 85.
17
CSO (2007) Ageing in Ireland Dublin:Stationery Office
55
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Older people living alone in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
According to information supplied to Southside Partnership by Gamma (2008),
comparison with figures for the Greater Dublin Area showed that Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown had somewhat higher proportions of people over 45 and of people over 65
living alone at the time of Census 2006. The two following tables show first, absolute
numbers in DLR and GDA, and second, a comparison of percentages in DLR, GDA
and Ireland as a whole.
Figure 7a: Numbers of people over 45 and over 65 living alone in DLR and GDA.
people over 45 and 65 living alone in GDA
and DLR
number of people
70,000
59,972
60,000
50,000
40,000
45+
31690
30,000
20,000
10,000
65+
10,980
6409
0
DLR
GDA
Figure 7b: Percentages of people over 45 and over 65 living alone in DLR, compared to
GDA and Ireland as a whole
% of people living alone over 45 years
and over 65 years
Ireland
65+
DLR
45+
GDA
0
5
10
15
20
percentage
56
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Absolute numbers of older people living alone in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown:
Shedding further light on the situation of older people In Dún Laoghaire Rathdown are
figures in the recent social inclusion report (Watters, 2009) comparing the absolute
number of over 65s living alone in the Southside catchment area with those in other
Partnership areas across the country. Compared to the 6,409 in DLR, areas with the
next largest numbers were Mayo, Dublin Northside and Wexford, which had 4961,
4686 and 3829 respectively. Areas conventionally thought of as more disadvantaged
had much lower numbers: Clondalkin had 1,187 and Ballymun 1,078.
Variations among electoral divisions: Watters also found that the percentage of
people aged 65 years and over living alone varied considerably across different
electoral divisions – from 1.9% in Cabinteely-Loughlinstown to 23.5% in ChurchtownCastle. 22 of the 69 electoral divisions in the county had a higher than average
percentage of older people living alone, i.e. more than 12.5% of their population.
As the report comments: ‘These EDs are for the most part located in the North of the
county from east to west, and there are concentrations of EDs around Churchtown and
Windy Arbour, Dún Laoghaire and Dalkey.’
They are listed in the table below, and shown on the map from the GAMMA report
reproduced on the following page.
Table 15: Electoral divisions with more than 12.5% older people living alone
Electoral division
% living
alone
Electoral division
% living
alone
Ballinteer-Meadowbroads
13.9
Dalkey-Coliemore
16.9
Blackrock-Monkstown
14.4
Dalkey-Hill
17.5
Blackrock-Williamstown
14.4
Dalkey-Upper
12.6
Churchtown-Castle
23.5
Dún Laoghaire-Glasthule
17.0
Churchtown-Landscape
19.1
Dún Laoghaire-Monkstown Farm
13.4
Churchtown-Orwell
15.6
Dún Laoghaire-Sallynoggin South
19.7
Churchtown-Woodlawn
14.1
Dún Laoghaire-Sandycove
19.7
Clonskeagh-Farranboley
15.7
Dún Laoghaire-West Central
13.0
Clonskeagh-Windy Arbour
13.0
Foxrock-Beechpark
12.7
Dalkey-Avondale
12.7
Stillorgan-Deerpark
15.9
Dalkey-Bullock
13.4
Stillorgan-Mount Merrion
14.0
57
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Figure 8: People over 65 living alone in DLR, as a percentage of all households, shown by
electoral division
Source: Watters (2009) Social Inclusion Profile for Southside Partnership
One-person households
Other 2008 data provided by GAMMA to the County Development Board includes
figures for one-person households in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown. While no firm
conclusions can be drawn, it is noteworthy that some of the areas with the highest
number of single households are electoral divisions with higher than average
percentages of older people in their overall population.
58
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Table 16: Electoral divisions with high proportions of single households and older people
Electoral division
% of single-occupant
households 2006
% of residents over 65
years 2006
Dún Laoghaire East Central
43
13.1
Blackrock-Monkstown
35
16.2
Dalkey Hill
33
25.2
Churchtown Castle
38
20.9
Source: GAMMA (2008) report for DLR CDB (p.29)
3.4.4 Housing type (1):
Owner occupiers in Ireland and Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
Compared to its European counterparts, Ireland has a high owner-occupancy rate, at
80%. The number of older people (over 65 years) in Ireland who are owner-occupiers is
even higher still, and is estimated to be 90% by Fahey et al (2007). 18
In addition, many older people who are owner occupiers have wholly paid off their
mortgages, making them ‘asset rich’, but in some cases ‘cash poor’. While owneroccupation offers security of tenure, it can also be a source of anxiety in relation to
maintenance, especially the cost and organisation of repairs and adaptations.
As table 12 (above) shows, the national picture of high owner occupation among people
over 65 is mirrored in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, where 21,256 people over 65 (almost
85% of the total quoted in the GAMMA report) are either buying or have bought their
own homes.
3.4.5 Housing type (2):
Social housing in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
According to information supplied for this report by the DLR Department of Community
and Enterprise and the DLR Department of Housing, 566 of all local authority
accommodation dwellings in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown are designated for older people,
referred to as ‘senior citizens’ by DLR Housing Section19. Some of this accommodation
is located in developments specifically designed for older people, which have a resident
caretaker, while in others older people predominate, but there may also be younger
households resident there.
At the time of the 2006 Census, there were 958 older people accommodated in Dún
Laoghiore Rathdown’s social housing schemes, some in designated senior citizen
developments and others in standard units.
18
Fahey T, Maitre B, Nolan B and Whelan CT (2007) A Social Portrait of Older People in Ireland
Dublin:ESRI
19 The age threshold for accommodation for senior citizens is currently 60 years, but this may be
reduced to 55 years in the near future, subject to governmental approval.
59
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
A further 474 older people were in process of purchasing their homes from the local
authority.
Other accommodation for older people is planned: the Draft Housing Strategy 20102016 for Dún Laoghaire Rathdown20 indicates that its current construction programme
includes 21 senior citizens units at Broadford Rise, Ballinteer and a net addition of 33
units at Rochestown House, Sallynoggin.
Waiting lists: at present there are 259 senior citizen households on the county’s waiting
list for local authority housing, as follows:
Table 17: Older people on DLR housing waiting lists in 2009
Area
Blackrock/ Stillorgan
Dún Laoghaire/ Dalkey
Number on list
86
101
Ballinteer/ Ballyogan
46
Ballybrack/ Shankill
26
Total
259
There are 225 applicants on the waiting list for one-bedroom senior citizen
accommodation, 210 of whom are single applicants.
118 ‘Senior Citizen’ applicants are currently living in private rented accommodation .
Supported housing: In Dún Laoghaire Rathdown there are three social housing
developments with resident caretakers, each with between 30 and 60 units (one is
currently being re-furbished). These are Beaufort in Glasthule, Rochestown House in
Sallynoggin, (under re-furbishment) and Kilbegnet House in Dalkey.
Voluntary housing associations: In addition to County Council housing, there are a
number of voluntary sector developments which cater for some 138 older people.
Information supplied by the County Council Housing Department indicates that there are
five voluntary housing associations providing such housing for older people: Abbeyfield
House in Monkstown, Ailt an Oir in Glenageary (run by Dublin Central Missions), Carrig
na Greine in Dalkey (run by the Sue Ryder Foundation), Charles Sheils House in
Stillorgan (run by Charles Sheils Trust) and Sophie Barat Residence, also in Stillorgan.
3.4.6 Housing type (3)
Private rented accommodation in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
According to information drawn from the 2006 Census by GAMMA for the County
Development Board, there are 448 people over 65 years in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
living in private rented accommodation, which may be either furnished or unfurnished.
20
http://www.dlrcoco.ie/planning/DevPlan2010_2016/Draft/Appendices/AppendixB.pdf
60
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Some commentators would consider that those in private rented accommodation are a
potentially vulnerable group of older people: they have no direct links with the local
authority, may not have security of tenure, and have only recently become eligible to
apply for aids and adaptations to their accommodation, with their eligibilty dependent on
a means test.
Further detailed research would be needed to explore the situations of this group of
older people, for whom income is clearly a critical factor.
3.4.7 Housing type (4)
Residential care – in Ireland and in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
National situation: Data from the 2006 Census show that just over 5% of people over
65 years old were ‘usually resident’ in nursing homes and hospitals; this amounted to
4.1% of men and 6.7% of women.
However, the proportions increased substantially according to age, as table 18 shows:
Table 18: Proportions of older age groups in residential care in 2006
Age
% of all men
% of all women
% of total cohort
60-69
1.4
1.2
1.3
70-74
2.3
2.2
2.2
75-79
4.1
4.9
4.6
80-84
8.4
10.7
9.8
85 and over
16.4
25.5
22.7
65 and over
4.1
6.7
5.5
Source: CSO (2007) Ageing in Ireland
In 2006, women represented two thirds of all nursing home and hospital residents aged
65 years and over, and 77.6% of residents aged 85 years and over.
In DLR, there are a number of residential care units catering for older residents who
may be funded in a number of different ways (ranging from full subvention, part
subvention, to wholly privately funded etc).
Public residential care for older people in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
The HSE indicated that in 2008 there were three locations in which a total of 251 public
residential care beds in DLR were provided: Dalkey Community Unit, Leopardstown
Park Hospital and Clevis Welfare Home (also in Leopardstown).
61
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Table 19: Public residential care places in DLR homes and hospitals, 2008
Name
Total bed
capacity
Dalkey Comm.Unit
50
Clevis Welfare Home
30
Leopardstown Pk
Hospital
171
Continuing
care
Dementia
specific
Respite
Convalescent
beds
Long
stay
12
2
36
30
145
11
14
1
Registered private nursing homes in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
The HSE provided information on registered private residential nursing homes, and the
number of beds available to older people, in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown. Not all the beds
are occupied currently, as cost is a consideration for some older people and their
families until such time as ‘A Fair Deal’ scheme is implemented. Some of the residents
will be in receipt of (means tested) HSE subventions towards their costs in these private
nursing homes. More locally, the HSE estimates that there are 969 private nursing home
beds on the east side of the county, but information for the west side was not obtained.
Table 20: Places for older people in registered private nursing homes in DLR (2008)
Number
of beds
Nursing Home
Aclare House Nursing Home
Dún Laoghaire
26
Altadore Nursing Home
Glenageary
41
Annabeg House Nursing Home
Ballybrack
28
Ashbury Private Nursing Home
Deansgrange, Blackrock
78
Ashford House Nursing Home
Dún Laoghaire
28
Beechfield Manor Nursing Home
Shankill
61
Belmont House Nursing Home
Stillorgan
113
Cairn Hill Nursing Home
Foxrock
42
Carysfort Nursing Home
Glenageary
52
Cedar House Nursing Home
Mount Anville, Stillorgan
21
Dalkey Lodge Nursing Home
Dalkey
31
Glebe House Nursing Home
Kilternan
48
Glengara Park Nursing Home
Dún Laoghaire
66
Harvey Nursing and Convalescent Home
Glenageary
32
Holy Family Residence
Little Sisters of the Poor, Roebuck Rd
66
Killiney Grove Nursing Home
Killiney
37
The Marlay Nursing Home
Rathfarnham
124
Newtownpark Nursing Home
Blackrock
64
Our Lady’s Manor
Dalkey
175
Rickard House
Blackrock
28
St. Joseph’s Centre
Shankill
60
Simpsons Hospital
Ballinteer Road, Dundrum
Total number of beds
44
1,265
62
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
3.4.8 Housing type (5)
‘Communal’ living arrangements (including residential care) in DLR
Available information is insufficient, and sometimes confusing, in relation to establishing
how many older people altogether were living in communal settings, and how many in
which types of communal settings in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown in 2006. The table below
lists the numbers of people of all ages living in communal arrangements in the county.
Unfortunately, as older residents of nursing homes are included in the same category as
younger adults in residential care and children in children’ homes, further investigation
would be necessary to establish the numbers of older people themselves.
It is likely that a high proportion of those living in religious communities are also part of
the older population of the county, but details are not readily available.
Table 21: People living in communal settings in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown at the time of
Census 2006
People present and usually resident in DLR classified by
communal household type
Total
2,461
Hospital
462
Nursing home/children’s home
1,176
Educational establishment
144
Religious community
424
Shelter/refuge/homeless accomm
61
Hotel
98
Boarding house/guest house/B&B
19
Tourist, youth hostel, campsite
31
Source: GAMMA (2008) Report for DLR CDB
According to the SAPS data, the electoral divisions with the highest number of
communal establishments of all types were as follows:
Table 22: Electoral divisions with highest numbers of communal establishments
Electoral Division
Number of
communal
establishments
Dún Laoghaire -Glenageary
9
Dún Laoghaire -Glasthule
8
Blackrock- Carysfort
8
Blackrock-Williamstown
8
Glencullen
7
63
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Blackrock-Templehill
7
Dalkey-Coliemore
5
Source CSO:SAPS 2006
It is important to note that these communal establishments may include those which
cater for people with disabilities, some of whom may also be older people.
Further investigation would be required to investigate the resident population of these
establishments.
3.4.9 Housing type (6) Traveller accommodation
No information was available at the time of writing regarding older Travellers and their
accommodation.
64
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
3.5 Older people: income and employment
The incomes of people aged 55 years and over may be derived from a number of
sources including








employment/ self-employment
private income
job seekers benefit
supplementary welfare allowance
occupational pensions
contributory State pension
non-contributory State pension
carer’s benefits
3.5.1 Employment/ self-employment
The CSO’s 2007 report, Ageing in Ireland, uses Census 2006 data to generate useful
information on older people and employment in recent years.
Nationally, labour force participation rates for older people aged 65 years and over
remained relatively stable between 1998 and 2006, the most recent year for which
figures are available. Male participation rates stayed at around the 14%-15% level,
whereas female participation was 4.2%.
Men of over 65 in Ireland had a higher overall rate of employment than the EU 27
average in 2006: 14.4% compared to an average of 6.6%. The difference for women
was less marked with 4.2% of Irish women in employment compared to 2.8% of women
in the EU 27 countries.
There is a natural decrease in employment participation as people age: whereas 58.3%
of men aged 60-64 were in the labour force in 2006, the figure for those aged 65-69
years was 24.7%, and for those over 70 it was 9.3%.
The pattern for women was similar: 31.2% of women aged between 60-64 were in the
labour force, 10.1% between 65-69 and for those over 70 years it was 1.9%21
3.5.2 Retirement, pension provision and the risk of poverty
Those people who are 65 years and over and no longer working are likely to derive their
income from a combination of occupational pensions, contributory and non-contributory
social welfare pensions, and sources of private income, such as investment income.
However, at present the majority (almost 70%) of older people in Ireland are primarily
dependent on a state pension.
Between 1996 and 2005 there has been a shift from state non-contributory pensions to
contributory pensions. In 1996, 57.5% of pensions were contributory, but in 2005 this
proportion had risen to 71.9% 22
21
22
All information taken from CSO 2007, Ageing in Ireland
CSO 2007, Ageing in Ireland
65
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
People aged 65 years and over are a population group frequently regarded as being ‘at
risk of poverty’ (defined as having an income below 60% of the median income). Recent
figures (EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions 2006) show that the position has
been ameliorated to a certain extent over recent years, so that the ‘at risk’ proportion of
the over-65 population has been reduced from 27% in 2004, to 20.1% in 2005, to 13.6%
in 2006. (EU SILC 2006)23
However, if Dún Laoghaire Rathdown was a typical county in this respect, it would mean
that over 3,500 older people in the county were at risk of poverty. Even allowing for the
higher socio-economic profile of the county overall, there would still be significant
numbers of older individuals and couples in this category. (In addition, a similar
calculation would indicate a further 950 older people in consistent poverty.)
The recent Annual Report of the Department of Social and Family Affairs24 illustrates the
increased investment in income maintenance of people aged 65 years and over,
showing that expenditure on payments for older people was over €3,878 billion in 2007,
an increase of 18.3% on 2006 payments.
Table 23: Social welfare payments to over 65s, 2007
Classification of benefit
Amount in €000
State Pension contribution
State pension transition
2,754,947
79,054
Social Assistance non-contributory
920,167
Pre-retirement
124,490
Source: DSFA Annual Report 2008
Nevertheless, across the country there are groups of older people who continue to live
in ‘consistent’ poverty (defined as having an income in the ‘at risk’ category and being
unable to afford basic necessities in a list of 11 ‘deprivation indicators’). In 2005, there
were 18,000 people over 65 in consistent poverty, or 3.7% of the total age group.
The existence of social welfare supports does not necessarily reduce the risk of poverty
for older people in Ireland. Figures from 2005 show that, although Ireland is in line with
the other EU 25 countries in terms of poverty risk to older people before ‘social transfers
and pensions’ were taken into account, after these were taken into account the risk for
an older person in Ireland was the second highest in the EU. (CSO 2007 p.27.)
National data available in the Green Paper on Pensions indicate that State provision
was the main source of income for 68% of pensioner households nationally who had no
income from occupational or personal pension schemes.
A special analysis of social welfare payments to over-65s in 2008 was undertaken by
the Department of Social and Family Affairs (DSFA) for Southside Partnership, and is
included in the 2009 Social Inclusion Report produced by Unique Perspectives.
23
http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/eu_silc/current/eusilc.pdf
24
http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Policy/ResearchSurveysAndStatistics/Documents/2007stats.pdf
66
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Note: the areas listed in the table below do not equate to the electoral divisions used in
Census data, but are based on ‘townland’ areas according to the address of the
recipient, since age-related pensions are administered centrally from Sligo, and are
often transferred electronically to recipients’ bank accounts. No figures were supplied for
numbers below 10, in order to preserve the confidentiality of recipients. 25
Table 23: Recipients of social welfare payments in DLR, 2008
NonContributory
Contributory
Pension (NCP)
Pension
Ballinteer
73
440
Ballybrack
47
327
Blackrock
268
2048
Booterstown
33
143
Cabinteely
21
246
Carrickmines
17
62
Churchtown
139
617
Cornelscourt
<10
16
Dalkey
98
638
Deansgrange
13
119
Dundrum
123
1087
Dún Laoghaire
165
999
Foxrock
29
641
Glasthule
44
108
Glenageary
38
380
Glencullen
<10
18
Goatstown
33
234
Killiney
70
599
<10
69
Leopardstown
27
33
Loughlinstown
33
95
Monkstown
53
363
Mount Merrion
34
253
Sallynoggin
65
221
Sandycove
37
221
Sandyford
58
263
100
450
Stepaside
10
72
Stillorgan
152
678
1,780
11,440
AREA
Kilternan
Shankill
TOTAL
Source: DSFA for Unique Perspectives 2009
25
Watters 2009 p. 62.
67
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
This analysis showed a total of 13,220 households in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
receiving Contributory or Non-Contributory Pension, of whom 1,780 are in receipt of the
means-tested benefit (NCP). The figure of 13,220 takes into consideration only one
pension recipient for married couples where the spouse may be a ‘qualified adult’, thus
accounting for the discrepancy between the number of older people over 65 years in
DLR (25,987) and the apparent number of claimants in the table.
Watters (2009) went on to study the overlap between areas of the county with higher
than average percentages of non-contributory pensions and those with a high proportion
of older people living alone. Significant overlap occurred in: Ballinteer, Churchtown, Dún
Laoghaire, Sallynoggin and Stillorgan.26 His report suggests that Shankill and
Loughlinstown should be included, based on known disadvantage in those areas.
3.5.3 Pre-retirement occupations of people in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
The GAMMA report for the CDB, drawn from Census 2006 data, indicates that 21,338
people (aged15+) in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown stated that they were retired. This figure
represent 13.44% of the county’s population, compared to 10.09% in the Greater Dublin
Area, and 11.2% of the population nationally. (p36)
Given the relatively low unemployment rates overall in the county in recent years, older
people in DLR are somewhat less likely to have experienced unemployment before
reaching retirement age than are older people elsewhere in the country.
The overall socio-economic and educational profiles of the county suggest a
concentration in skilled and professional employment overall, so it is interesting to
consider the previous occupations most commonly cited by DLR respondents in the
chart below.
26
Watters, 2009 p. 63.
68
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Figure 9. Pre-retirement occupations in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown 2006
4,853
Other gainful occupations (incl. not stated)
86
181
Army occupations
Garda Siochana
778
Central and local government workers
1,397
Teachers
911
Personal service and childcare workers
441
161
96
Other professional workers
Religious occupations
Social workers and related occupations
1,057
Health and related workers
684
Scientific and technical occupations
167
Computer software occupations
1,076
1,456
Business and commerce occupations
Sales occupations
2,508
Clerical and office workers
725
Communication, warehouse and transport workers
1,960
Managers and executives
711
Building and construction workers
227
113
116
198
340
189
83
Other manufacturing workers
Chemical, paper, wood, rubber, plastics and printing workers
Food, drink and tobacco production workers
Textile, clothing and leather workers
Engineering and allied trades workers
Electrical trades workers
Farming, fishing and forestry workers
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
Source: GAMMA 2008, categorised into groups using 2006 CSO occupational classifications 27
Leaving aside the ‘other gainful occupations/ not stated’ category, it is interesting to note
from the above table the relatively high numbers of retired people who were formerly
teachers, health and related workers, clerical and office workers, managers and
executives and those in sales-related occupations in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown.
Grouped together, the number of people formerly involved in trades, manufacturing,
printing and food production is also substantial.
Closer and more detailed analysis of pre-retirement occupations would be helpful in
designing appropriate life-long learning opportunities for those over 65 years.
Place of residence of retired people in DLR
As the varying age profiles across the county suggest, the percentages of those who are
retired in various areas are also strikingly varied. In particular, Census 2006 figures
illustrated by the map below show 12 electoral divisions in which between 20% and 25%
of the population were retired. These were predominantly, and predictably, Dalkey (4
EDs), central parts of Dún Laoghaire (2), Foxrock (1) Churchtown (3) and Dundrum (1).
There are an additional 23 electoral divisions with between 15% - 20% of the population
retired, and these are mostly adjacent to the areas with the highest proportions of retired
people.
27
CSO Census 2006 Volume 8 Occupations Appendix 4 Intermediate level of occupational
groups (used in the 2006 Census classification)
69
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Figure 10: Proportions of retired people (all people over 15) by electoral division, 2006
Source: GAMMA (2008) Report prepared for DLR CDB
70
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
3.6 Older people and health: national level information
The information below is based on national level surveys which have provided data
relating to the health and well-being of the over-65 population. Once social class and
socio-economic status are taken into account, there is no reason to anticipate marked
differences between national results and the health status, behaviours, attitudes and
lifestyle choices of older people in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown overall. (See also chapter 5
on the Network survey for comparisons with this particular group)
Income and health
It is generally accepted that the determinants of health status are multi-dimensional.
They include social, economic and environmental factors, and at an individual level,
factors such as age, gender, personal lifestyle choices and hereditary factors.
As evidenced by numerous reports from organisations such as the Institute of Public
Health in Ireland, one of the key social determinants of health is income status: the
lower the level of one’s income, the less likely one is to enjoy good health.28
This is also borne out by the latest SLAN reports: SLAN 2007 Survey of Lifestyle,
Attitudes and Nutrition in Ireland: Main Report, published in 2008, and SLAN 2007
Mental Health and Social Well-being Report, published in 2009. Both are based on
large-scale national surveys undertaken in 2007.
Older people and self-perceived health status
At a general level, many people in Ireland tend to perceive their health in a positive light,
as also reported in the EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU SILC) 2005.
However, older people’s self-assessment of their health status was somewhat different,
with approximately 40% of both men and women judging their health to be ‘fair’, ‘bad’, or
‘very bad’.
Table 24: Perceived health status of over 65s as percentages of age group
Very good
Good
Fair, bad or very bad
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
17.6%
18.2%
41.8%
40.2%
40.6%
41.6%
Source: CSO: EU SILC 2005, cited in DOHC: Health in Ireland: Key Trends 2007.
Older people, self-perceived health status and social class:
The SLÁN 2007 findings highlight the link between an individual’s self-perceived health
status and social class,29 which is true of the over-65s as much as of younger age
groups:
28
http://www.dohc.ie/publications/pdf/slan_wellbeing_report.pdf?direct=1 p 4 of report
In the SLAN study Social Class 1-2 is referred to ‘upper’ class, 3-4 as ‘middle’ class and 5-6 as
‘lower’ class, based on CSO occupational categories for the ‘reference person’ in each
household: 1= professional; 2= managerial and technical; 3=non-manual; 4=skilled manual; 5=
semi-skilled manual; 6=unskilled manual; 7= all others gainfully occupied and unknown.
29
71
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs

In social classes 1and 2, 45% of men and 43% of women over 65 reported their
health to be excellent or very good;

In social classes 3 and 4, 33% of men and 37% of women over 65 reported their
health to be excellent or very good;

In social classes 4 and 5, 30% of men and 23% of women over 65 reported their
health to be excellent or very good.
Older people, exercise and nutrition:
According to the SLAN 2007 main report people over 65 are less likely to be physically
active than their younger counterparts, citing injury/disability/medical condition as the
reason for inactivity. However, men are more likely to be physically active than women.
Results of the survey also showed that older men were more likely to consume more
than the two recommended daily servings of meat, fish, poultry or alternative every day,
which may impact negatively on their nutritional health. Older women in both lowest and
highest social classes are more likely to consume less than the two recommended daily
servings which also may have a negative impact on nutritional health.
Mental health and social well-being: The SLAN 07 survey shows that, in general,
older people in Ireland are more likely to be positive about their mental health and to
experience less depression, anxiety etc. than younger people. This too has links to
social class, with the least well-off experiencing higher levels of distress.
Loneliness: When asked ‘have you often felt lonely in the last 4 weeks?’ 10% of men
but 17% of women across all age groups said they had. In the over-65 age group, there
were higher percentages than this overall average for both sexes and all social classes,
with the exception of men in social classes 1 and 2. A higher percentage of all older
women replied ‘yes’ compared to older men, but the difference was more marked in
social classes 5 and 6.
Figure 11: Perceptions of loneliness among men and women over 65, by social class
Perception of loneliness in people 65+
30
percentage
25
20
Men
15
Women
10
5
0
SC1-2
SC3-4
SC5-6
social class
Source: SLAN 200,7 p. 94
72
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Older people and community engagement: Interestingly, SLAN 2009 found that 55%
of people of both sexes and in all age groups attended one or more community activity
on a regular basis. A wide range of activities was quoted, including ‘sports clubs,
political parties, trade unions, environmental groups, parent-children associations,
tenant groups, neighbourhood safety, religious or voluntary activities, evening classes
and social clubs’.
When people over 65 were asked whether they regularly attended one or more such
community activity, it was the older men in social classes 5 and 6 who were least likely
to have attended such an activity (31%),raising the question of the relevance of current
activities and provision to men in this group. There may also be an issue of cost in
relation to some of the activities listed, such as adult learning activities.
Figure 12: Community engagement of older men and women, by social class
percentage
Regularly attending one or more
community activities:men and women 65+
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Men
Women
SC1-2
SC3-4
SC5-6
social class
Source: SLAN report on Mental Health and Social Well-being (2009):
Older people, mental health and perceived stigma: Finally, when asked to agree or
disagree with the statement: ‘if I was experiencing mental health problems, I wouldn’t
want people knowing about it’, a significant percentage of both men and women in all
social classes agreed. In all social classes, slightly more older men agreed than women,
perhaps indicating greater reluctance in this respect.
The biggest gap between men and women was in social classes 1 and 2, where men
reported the highest levels of reluctance to admit to mental health issues of all three
male groups, but women reported the lowest levels. Older women in social classes 5
and 6 were more likely to agree than other women. These findings may have
implications for understanding the way older people access mental health services, but
more in-depth exploration of the attitudes expressed in this set of responses would be a
necessary preliminary.
73
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Figure 13: Older people’s willingness to acknowledge mental health problems, by social
class
percentage
Reluctant to acknowledge experience of mental health
problems - people 65+
48
46
44
42
40
38
36
34
Men
Women
SC1-2
SC3-4
SC5-6
social class
Source: SLAN report on Mental Health and Social Well-being (2009):48
The report Healthy Ageing: a Challenge for Europe (2006)30 highlights, among other
things, that older women’s experience of health in ageing differs from that of men.
Women tend to live longer, are more likely to live alone, tend to experience loneliness
more acutely, are less likely to have adequate pension provision, and are more likely to
report psychological symptoms. Motivations to become involved in health promotion
activities are also different for men and women.
These findings are particularly pertinent to the situation in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown,
where the population of people over 65 years has a greater preponderance of women
especially as the group advances in age, as illustrated in the earlier sections of this
report.
Health expenditure: the national picture
One of the government’s commitments to to older people in Towards 2016 is that:
Every older person would have adequate support to enable them to
remain living independently in their own homes for as long as possible.
This will involve access to good quality services in the community
including: health, education, transport, housing and security.
Section 32: Older People
The majority of older people in Ireland in 2009 are in good health and not in need of
extensive or on-going medical treatment. It has been argued that the effects of
population ageing on healthcare expenditure can often be exaggerated. However the
‘oldest old’ are significant users of healthcare, and the bulk of expenditure is more likely
to be required for the last year or two of life.
30
http://www.healthyageing.nu/upload/Rome/Healthy_web.pdf
published by the Swedish National Institute of Public Health in 2006
74
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Ireland’s performance in relation to expenditure on health is illustrated in the OECD
comparative table for 2005 below - it is important to note, however, that the definition of
health spend varies, and in Ireland it includes social services, whereas in the UK, for
example, it does not.
Figure 14: Total health expenditure in OECD countries as percentage of GDP, 2005
National policy and the provision of care at home
In line with the policy commitment of enabling older people to remain in their own homes
for as long as possible and avoiding the necessity of residential care, the government
has been increasing expenditure on ‘home care packages’ in order to make this aim a
reality. Budget 2008 committed an extra €24 million for increased support services for
older people. This was intended to allow for increases in the number of home care
supports, home help hours and respite care. A further commitment was made to develop
standardised assessment procedures to establish the needs of older people living in
their own homes which are to be delivered by multi-disciplinary teams.
In 2007, the Department of Health and Children reported delivery of 8,035 home care
packages to clients and 12,351,088 home help hours. According to the HSE Annual
Report and Financial Statements 2008, the number of home care packages delivered in
2008 had increased to 8,990 with approximately 11,987 people benefiting (400 more
than in 2007) and home help hours had increased to 12,631,602. 31
In contrast to the situation in other countries, there are as yet no home care packages
dedicated to the complex needs of older people with dementia.
31
http://www.hse.ie/eng/Publications/corporate/arafs08.pdf
75
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Care at home in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown: figures provided by the HSE indicate that
approximately around 300 people are receiving Home Care Packages/supports in Dún
Laoghaire Rathdown (covering the east side of the county) and approximately 270 in
LHO Areas 2 which includes the west side along with several other areas within Dublin
City Council’s boundaries.
Day care
The provision of day care can play a very important role in enabling people to continue
to live in their own homes. The definition of ‘day care’ for older people encompasses a
broad spectrum and can range from dedicated ‘day care centres’ for very specific
groups with specific needs, such as people with Alzheimers, to older people’s groups
offering a chiropody service.
Day care services for older people supported by the HSE in the Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown county area are grouped into:
Day hospitals:
Community Unit for Older Persons, Kilbegnet Close, Dalkey
Leopardtown Park Hospital, Foxrock
Social day care:
Beaufort Day Care, Glasthule
Monkstown Day Centre, Monkstown
Brookfield/ Blackrock Day Centre, Monkstown
Mount Merrion Friendship Club, Mount Merrion
Shankill Day Centre, Shankill
Little Sisters of the Poor, Roebuck Road, Clonskeagh
Day care for older people with dementia-related illness:
St Joseph’s Centre, Shankill
Alzheimer’s Day Care Centre, Blackrock
Carmen Centre, Leopardstown Park Hospital, Foxrock
It is noteworthy that at present day care provision is located mainly towards the east
side of the county, and although there are high numbers of older people living in the
western side, there is a lack of such care provision.
Disability and chronic illness .
Data from the 2006 Census32 shows that nationally 29.5% of people aged 65 years and
over indicated that they had a disability, compared to 9.3% of the whole population.33
32
CSO (2007) Ageing in Ireland. Dublin:Stationery Office
76
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
The proportion of people with a disability increased with age, with the disability rate
varying from 18.7% for the 65-69 age group to 58.6% for the 85 and over age group.
While some older people may not regard their particular health condition as a disability
as such, and may take a somewhat stoical attitude to coping with it, significant levels of
chronic illness or long-term conditions have been recorded among this group.
Table 25: Those with chronic illness among the over 65s as percentage of age group
Yes
No
Male
Female
Male
Female
50.1%
52.8%
50.0%
47.2%
Source: CSO: EU SILC 2005, cited in DOHC: Health in Ireland: Key Trends 2007.
Data provided to Southside Partnership by GAMMA in 2008 indicated that there were
6,967 people over 65 years with a disability in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown. In percentage
terms, as the table below shows, this is a higher proportion of all those with disability in
the county than is the case in Greater Dublin and in the state as whole, although the
reverse is true in relation to disability rates for people aged 45 to 64.
Table 26: Disability numbers and percentages for DLR, Greater Dublin and Ireland
Total
persons
with a
disability
Persons with
a disability
aged 45-64
Persons with
a disability
aged 65+
Persons with a
disability aged
45-64 (%)
18,092
4,901
6,967
27.1%
38.5%
GDA
112,936
32,852
37,591
29.1%
33.3%
National
393,785
114,899
138,257
29.2%
35.1%
Southside
Partnership
Persons with a
disability aged
65+ (%)
Residence and household arrangements of people with a disability in Dún
Laoghaire Rathdown: Census information on people with a disability aged 65 years
and over in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown shows a total of 5,762 living in private households
(i.e. not in hospital or residential care), of whom just over 3,508 were women.
In terms of their household arrangements, the picture is similar in Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown to that in the Greater Dublin Area and the state. In each case, the percentage
of those living alone is approximately 32% of all older people with a disability.
However, there is a marked gender difference: approximately 40% of older women with
a disability live alone in DLR, compared to only around 20% of older men with a
disability. The percentage of older women with a disability living alone in DLR is also
higher than in GDA or the State. (see Table 27 below)
33
The Census 2006 definition of disability included chronic illness, and psychological or
emotional conditions as well as physical disability and impairment.
77
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Table 27: People over 65 with a disability who live alone in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, the Greater Dublin Area and the State
Location
Persons with a disability aged 65+
Males with a disability aged 65+
Females with a disability aged 65+
In private
In private
In private
households
Living alone
Total in private
As % of
households
persons
households
Living alone
Total in private
As % of
households
persons
households
Living alone
Total in private
As % of
households
persons with
with a
with a
a disability in
disability in
disability in
private
private
private
households
households
households
DLR
5,762
1,853
32.2
2,254
441
19.6
3,508
1,412
40.3
GDA
30,593
10,078
32.9
11,979
2748
22.9
18,614
7,330
39.4
State
109,997
35,932
32.7
45,779
11,361
24.8
64,218
24,571
38.3
Source: CSO 2007 – Disability, Carers and Voluntary Activities (Table 33)
78
3.7 Older people, security and safety
There are several aspects to the issue of security and safety for older people living
both in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown and in Ireland more generally. These are
Safety within the home (physical safety)

Elder abuse (either in own home or residential care)

Safety outside the home (crime and safety)

Safety outside the home (as pedestrians, road users, car drivers, cyclists etc)
3.7.1 Safety within the home
A number of innovative strategies have been implemented across the country in
relation to the safety and security of older people in their homes. These have included
health promotion initiatives concerning regular sight tests and the use of correct
glasses, precautionary advice about rugs and mats, the use of non-slip soles, keeping
walkways clear etc. There has been encouragement of older people to take more
exercise as a contribution to maintaining physical capacity and the national falls
prevention strategy is being implemented nation-wide.
This national Strategy to Prevent Falls and Fractures in Ireland’s Ageing Population
was published in 2008, and aims to decrease the number of falls and fractures in the
over 65 age group. The risk of falls increases with age and 10% of all older people
need treatment following an injury – falls cause 75% of these injuries. Fall-related
deaths increase with age and are higher for older women. Nursing home residents are
at the highest risk of falls, fractures and osteoporosis.
Alarm systems: a national system operates for the subsidised installation of house
alarms, funded by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, and
administered locally through varying arrangements.
Smoke alarms have recently been made available in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown through
the Older People’s Network.
Home adaptations: local authorities, under new arrangements, have responsibility for
the funding of aids and adaptations to the homes of older people, and under this new
means-tested scheme, people in private rented accommodation can also apply for
financial assistance,.
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
3.7.2 Elder abuse
Definitions: elder abuse can take place both within an older person’s own home or in
the context of residential care, day care, hospital etc. The definition of elder abuse
used by the Department of Health and Children is
A single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action occurring within
any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes
harm or distress to an older person or violates their human and civil
rights.34
The DoHC categorises the different types of elder abuse as follows:
 physical abuse
 sexual abuse
 psychological abuse
 financial or material abuse
 neglect and acts of omission
 discriminatory abuse
However, self-neglect and abuse by strangers are excluded from the definition.
Although the focus is on specific acts of abuse by individuals, it is recognised that
abuse may also arise from inadequacy of care.
Numbers experiencing abuse: HSE reports on the issue of elder abuse (2002 and
2009) estimate that between 3 to 5% of older people have been, or are being, subject
to some form of abuse. Application of this estimate to the older population of DLR
would therefore suggest that between 780 to1,300 older people could potentially be
affected in this way.
A formal system of collecting data on elder abuse commenced in 2007, and figures for
2007 and 2008 have now been released35.
o
In the nine months of 2007 in which data was collected, 927 referrals of elder
abuse were made to the HSE nationally. In Dublin Mid-Leinster HSE region,
which includes Dún Laoghaire Rathdown but extends further, 125 referrals of
alleged elder abuse were received within that time-frame.
o
In 2008, 1,840 referrals were received nationally by the HSE, and 245 of these
were made in the Dublin Mid-Leinster region.
The table below details both the numbers of elder abuse referrals for both men and
women for the full year of 2008 in Dublin Mid-Leinster and nationally, and shows the
significant gender difference. Half of all referrals concerned people aged 80 or more.
34
Protecting Our Future: DoHC Report of the Working Group on Elder Abuse, 2002
35http://www.hse.ie/eng/Publications/Older_People_and_Nursing_Homes/OpenYourEyesServic
eDevelopments2008.pdf
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Table 28: Elder abuse referrals in Dublin- mid-Leinster, 2008
Dublin- mid
Leinster
Male
National%
Dublin- mid
Leinster %
National %
82
670
33.5
36.9
Female
163
1145
66.5
63.1
Total
245
1815
100.0
100.0
Source: HSE (2009) Open Your Eyes: Elder Abuse Service Developments 2008:
Other aspects of elder abuse referrals: analysis of the referrals received by the HSE
nationally indicates that most by far related to individuals who live at home (82%), with
only 6% relating to people living in nursing homes, 5% to those in relatives’ homes, 4%
to those in public continuing care, with 2% relating to ’other’ circumstances, and 1% to
those who are ‘boarding out’. The greatest source of referrals was Public Health
Nurses, with hospital, HSE staff, and family being the other main sources.
Nationally, complaints of psychological abuse were the most frequent (25%), while
about 20% concerned neglect, 16 % were allegations of financial abuse, and 12%
related to cases of physical abuse. (HSE 2009)
The profile of alleged perpetrators of elder abuse in 2008 is outlined in the chart below
Figure 15: Alleged perpetrators of elder abuse in Ireland 2008
50
40
30
20
10
0
so
n/
da
ug
pa
ht
rtn
er
er
/s
po
us
e
ne
ig
ot
h
he
bo
rp
ur
ai
d
ca
ne
re
ice
r
/n
ep
he
ot
he
w
rr
ot
he
el
at
rs
ive
er
vi
ce
us
er
pr
of
st
af
f
ot
he
r
percentage of all
referrals
alleged perpetrators of elder abuse in Ireland
2008
alleged perpetrator
Source: HSE (2009) Open Your Eyes
Proportions of allegations substantiated: it is important to note that not all
allegations/ referrals made to the HSE are substantiated. Nationally in 2008, 23% of
referrals were substantiated, 31% were not substantiated and 47% were inconclusive.
This pattern was mirrored in Dublin Mid-Leinster, where 23% (or 29 referrals) were
substantiated, 19% (or 23 referrals) not substantiated, and 58% (or 72 referrals) were
inconclusive.
81
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
3.7.3 Safety outside the home
National information: although many older people experience a degree of fear
regarding crime, national figures from the 2006 Census suggest that they are less likely
to be the victims of crime than other age groups, as illustrated in the tables below.
Table 29(a) Male victims of crime in 2006, classified by age group.
Age group
Number of crime
victims
Population
Percentage who
are victims
18 - 24
26,500
233,900
11.3%
25 - 44
41,400
690,400
6.0%
45 - 64
19,900
472,100
4.2%
65+
4,100
211,400
1.9%
Total
91,900
1,607,800
5.7%
Table 29(b) Female victims of crime in 2006, classified by age group.
Age group
Number of crime
victims
Population
Percentage who
are victims
18 - 24
14,700
229,600
6.4%
25 - 44
27,700
671,800
4.1%
45 - 64
12,300
469,000
2.6%
65+
4,200
265,500
1.6%
Total
58,900
1,635,900
3.6%
Source: Central Statistics Office(2007)Crime and Victimisation (from QHNS 2006)
However, while the figures show them less likely than younger people to be victims of
crime, older people’s perceptions may be different. Table 30 shows that more than half
of over 65s worry about becoming a victim of crime in general, while just over a third
worry about experiencing both personal injury and property crime.
Table 30: Fear of becoming a victim of crime – by age group, 2006
18-24
25-44
45-64
65+
All persons
Yes, personal injury only
13.6%
14.6%
16.2%
14.6%
14.9%
Yes, property crime only
3.4%
4.0%
4.0%
2.8%
3.7%
Yes personal and property
24.5%
34.3%
37.9%
36.5%
34.3%
No
58.5%
47.1%
42.0%
46.1%
47.1%
Source: Central Statistics Office, 2006
82
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
CSO statistics also bear out the fact that many older people fear walking home alone in
the dark. Compared to younger people, fewer older people feel very safe or safe, and
more older people feel unsafe or very unsafe, walking home in the dark.
Table 31: Fear of walking home alone after dark – by age group, 2006
18-24
25-44
45-64
65+
All persons
Feel very safe
27.8%
28.0%
23.9%
13.1%
24.6%
Feel safe
51.4%
50.1%
49.9%
41.7%
49.0%
Feel unsafe
17.0%
18.6%
21.8%
32.8%
21.4%
3.8%
3.3%
4.3%
12.4%
5.0%
Feel very unsafe
Source: Central Statistics Office, 2006
The situation in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown: in relation to crime statistics, the 2008
GAMMA report for the County Development Board notes a general drop in criminal
offences in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown since 2005. However, this did not apply equally
to all offences: although there was a drop in the number of burglaries, there was an
increase in the number of drug-related crimes.
Age-related information is unavailable, but outline statistics for crime in the Garda
region Dublin Metropolitan Region-East for 2007 are as follows:
Table 32: Outline crime statistics for Dublin Metropolitan Area-East in 2007
Type of crime
Number
Homicides
Assaults
3
152
Sexual offences
44
Arson
90
Drugs
175
Thefts
3,068
Burglaries
1,548
Robberies
100
Frauds
246
Other headline
offences
Total
56
5,482
Source: GAMMA (2008) report for DLR CDB
Note: Garda areas do not correspond to local authority areas. Dublin Metropolitan
Region-East is the smallest unit at which statistics are released which encompasses
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Older people and road accidents – the national picture
Older people as pedestrians: older people are classified as ‘vulnerable’ pedestrians by
the Road Safety Authority in terms of how they fare on the roads,
This is clearly illustrated in the graph below, taken from the Road Safety Strategy 20072012, which indicates that fatality figures for older pedestrians are considerably higher
than those for any other group of pedestrians, compared to fatalities amongst
passengers and drivers. However it must be noted that the category ’65 and over’ in
the chart below actually corresponds to a larger age banding than any other.
Launching a new scheme for the wearing of high visibility vests by older people, the
RSA’s chairperson stated recently that, between 1997 and 2007, more than 30% of
walkers who died on the roads were over 65 years. One third of those older people
who died were killed on dark roads with poor or no lighting.36
It is a matter of conjecture as to why this might be the case, but factors including
unsafe crossings, unsafe roadways and pathways, poor visibility etc. may be among
the ingredients which contribute to this picture.
Figure 16: Road deaths by type of road user and age, 2000 - 2005
36
Quoted in the Irish Times, May 27, 2009.
84
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Road accident statistics in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
Figures for Dún Laoghaire Rathdown on the safety of older road users are not available
at present, and considering the nature and demography of its population, this is an
aspect of security and safety which may warrant further attention.
Information drawn from the National Roads Authority’s Road Accident Facts 2003 to
2007, quoted by GAMMA for the County Development Board, reveals the following:
Table 33: Fatalities and injuries amongst some road users in DLR 2003-2007
Fatalities
Car user
Pedestrian
Pedestrian
amongst all road
fatalities
fatalities
injuries
users
2003
8
4
4
45
2004
2
0
1
33
2005
4
2
1
35
2006
5
4
1
27
2007
6
5
0
43
It would be unwise to draw conclusions with regard to trends from the above figures;
however the number of injuries to pedestrians is noteworthy.
…/ over
85
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
3.8 Older people and education in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
While figures are not available for the educational attainments of older people in Dún
Laoghaire Rathdown, the county overall has strikingly high educational levels,
compared to both the Greater Dublin Area, and to Ireland as a whole.
In 2006, according to figures prepared for the Southside Partnership by GAMMA, 51%
of the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown population over the age of 15 whose education had
ceased had completed a third level or higher qualification, compared to 36% of those in
the Greater Dublin Area and only 30% of the whole Irish population. There were a
small number of electoral divisions in the north of the county with more than 63% of the
population in this category, while the four with lowest levels were: Monkstown Farm,
Sallynoggin West and South, and Cabinteely-Kilbogget.
The chart below illustrates the levels of educational attainment in 2006 for all people in
DLR aged 15 years and over who had completed their education.
Figure 17: Educational attainment of over-15s in DLR who had completed education,
2006
Educational attainment of people aged 15 yrs+ in DLR
1,564
Doctorate (Ph.D)
Post-graduate degree
8,375
Post-graduate certificate or diploma
5,432
Both degree and professional qualification
7,849
4,476
level of attainment
Professional qualification (degree status)
Primary degree
10,963
Non-degree
11,587
Series1
2,188
Technical Vocational and Leaving Cert.
Technical or Vocational
3,249
Leaving Cert.
15,275
Lower Secondary
8,202
3,205
Primary Education
No Formal Education
102
Not stated
1,717
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
numbers
Source: GAMMA data prepared for Southside Partnership (2008)
Alongside the high proportion of those with third level education or more, there are
significant numbers of people in the county with no more than primary or lower
secondary education, and it is likely that a fairly high proportion will be over the age of
65.
In Churchtown-Nutgrove, Sallynoggin West and Dún Laoghaire-Mounttown, 45–55% of
the population completed education at lower secondary level or less in 2006. Areas
where this was true for 35-45% of the area’s population included BallinteerMeadowmount, Clonskeagh-Farranboley, Monkstown Farm, Dún Laoghaire WestCentral, Sallynoggin South, Cabinteely-Kilbogget, Killiney South, and ShankillRathsallagh.
86
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Overall, this information indicates where and how appropriate lifelong and continuing
education could be pitched for the older population. For example, adult literacy support
and second-level courses might be offered to those who have had no formal education
or primary education only, whereas flexible ‘mature student’ access to third level
courses might be extended for those older people who finished education at leaving
certificate level.
-0–0–0-
87
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Chapter 4. Survey: the contributions and needs of
older people in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
4.1 Background: the Network for Older People
This survey was carried out in close collaboration with the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
Network for Older People, which in 2008 decided to carry out a questionnaire-based
survey focusing on key issues of concern to its members, following training received
from Southside Partnership, supported by a grant from Age and Opportunity. The
Network saw this initiative as a way of strengthening and consolidating its work of
bringing the concerns of older people in the county to the attention of the local
authority.
Many groups, clubs and associations of older people have been a significant part of life
across the county for many years. The range includes Active Retirement associations,
parish-based ‘Old Folks’ and other groups, groups linked to Community Development
Projects, and groups with a focus on a specific sport or art/craft activity or serving a
particular sector (such as the Probus Clubs for retired professional and business
people).
In 2001, the County Council implemented a decision in the County Development Plan
2002-2012 when it took the initiative to set up a Network of such groups. The current
Directory of member groups lists 32 groups in all, and two others have recently become
members. A request for information to the contact person of each group in early 2009
produced an estimated total membership of over 2,500 people – approximately 1 in 20
of all older people in the county. This means that the Network – although not a
representative body in a formal sense - is potentially very influential, and the views of
Network members must be of interest to policy makers and service providers locally.
The groups involved in the Network cover a wide spectrum of older people in the
county. They include people of all ages from 50 plus to 90 plus, from a variety of social,
educational and occupational backgrounds. The areas served by different groups
include county council housing estates as well as areas of relatively expensive private
housing; members may come from a relatively small neighbourhood or cover much
bigger areas of the county. Included in the Network are also a number of day care
centres, which also contributes to the ‘mix’ among members. The Network largely
consists of those older people who have opted for active involvement in local activities
etc, and in addition, anecdotal evidence suggests that its active membership (those
who attend meetings regularly) is predominantly female. These two facts need to be
borne in mind when interpreting the findings of the survey.
The County Council provides the Network’s Committee with some secretarial back-up
(currently through a Community Employment Scheme post) as well as funding for all
ongoing Network activities, which include a quarterly newsletter and an annual
exhibition and awards event in May, aligned with the national Bealtaine festival
celebrating creativity in older age. Funding is received from other sources for specific
projects.
88
Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
The Network has drawn up a Constitution, holds an AGM each year, but has not looked
for the independent legal status of, say, a company limited by guarantee. According to
the Constitution, membership is open to ‘all organisations and individuals committed to
improving the quality of life of older people’, thus is not currently limited to non-profits
nor to organisations with purely local focus. However, the normal membership process
is relatively informal: if a group of older people approaches the Network, it will be
invited to join if it is already known; if not, contacts will be made and an invitation
issued once the Network is assured of its bone fides. There are no individual members
at present.
The Network’s objectives, which emphasise its close relationship with the County
Council, are stated as:

To work in cooperation with the Community Section of Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown County Council;

To enhance the longevity, quality of life and care provision for the older citizens
and recognise the contributions of older citizens in communities and society of
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown;

To work with but not duplicate other associations and to speak with a unified
voice in matters of concern for older people in our area;

To bring to the notice of the Cathaoirleach, County Councillors and the
Community Section these concerns;

To establish a newsletter;

To maintain and update a Directory of organisations who work on behalf of the
older people in the County;

For members to give freely of their knowledge and experience and to set up
sub-committees where necessary.
(Constitution of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Network for Older People: undated)
The Chair and Treasurer of the Network’s Committee are members of the county’s
Service Providers’ Forum (Older People) which meets quarterly and is chaired by an
HSE representative. The Network is also represented on the Community and Voluntary
Forum for Dún Laoghaire Rathdown by its Chair, who has been appointed to its
Executive Committee for a three–year term. The Network’s Vice Chair liaises with the
Senior Citizen’s Parliament on its behalf.
Working ‘in cooperation with…Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council’ has entailed,
among other activities, being consulted on new seating in local parks, and taking on the
role of distributing smoke alarms provided by the Council.
The Network also fulfils an information and referral role for individual older people who
approach its Committee members with queries and problems.37
37
All above information on the Network supplied by the current Chairperson and the contact
person in Dún Laoghaire County Council’s staff.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
4.2 Designing and implementing the survey
Members of the Network, working with Southside Partnership, chose three main
themes for their survey: transport, security and safety, health and health services. They
wanted a focus on older people’s contributions to their communities and the wider
society, as well as on needs and issues, and they recognised the usefulness of seeking
anonymous demographic data as part of the research. Their preferred method was the
use of a confidential written questionnaire, so this was the brief for the researchers at
the outset.
A series of working meetings with a small survey group and with the whole Committee
began in early November 2008, and the final agreed questionnaire – its length,
language, layout, type size etc. designed to be accessible to a wide range of older
people – was piloted in the New Year and introduced and distributed to contact people
from each group in the Network at a preparatory meeting held in early February 2009.
Groups were free to design their own method of distribution to members, as well as the
setting in which they were completed: in some cases, members took the forms home,
in others they were completed in private at a group meeting. In one or two cases the
contact person acted as neutral interviewer where the participant had difficulty with the
form, for reasons such as visual impairment.
It was emphasised that answers to questions in the survey should be based on
individual experience, views, and perceptions of their own situation (for example, in
relation to health matters or adequacy of income). Some concepts were deliberately
left fluid – and where the results were striking (such as the high proportion of people
who found ‘safety on the streets’ problematic), further research would clearly be fruitful.
The response to the survey was extremely positive: members of 30 groups (almost
90% of groups in the Network) participated by completing and returning the
questionnaires, and of around 360 forms distributed, 291 (over 80%) were returned
over the following four weeks.
At a more personal level, participants clearly valued the opportunity to voice their
concerns. Some comments of the many provided in response to an invitation to add
any relevant information at the end of the questionnaire, illustrate this:
Thank you for your consideration regarding elderly folk. We sometimes
feel we are the forgotten generation.
In general, there’s a lack of understanding and inclusive attitudes to the
65 plus within the overall population.
[Addressed to local councillors] Look more to the needs of older people,
and listen to them!
Not enough recognition of the active retired. The focus is all on youth in
our community.
Consideration had been given at an early stage to widening the scope of the
questionnaire to include other older people unconnected with the Network, such as
older Travellers or residents of nursing homes, but this was not done, partly for reasons
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
of practicality and time constraints, and partly because a survey ‘of the Network, by the
Network and for the Network’ was considered to have coherence and a greater validity
on its own terms than one which included only a small number of older people outside
it, and in different circumstances (which could be seen as tokenism).
The findings below emerged from the analysis of the survey data. A copy of the
complete survey questionnaire is included as Appendix 3 of the report.
4.3 Survey findings
1. The survey participants
The demographic profile of the survey participants – all members of, or associated
with, groups in the Network - is in some ways similar to, in others very different from,
that of the general population of older people, either in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown or
nationally. The details of this profile are the essential background against which the
survey results need to be understood and interpreted.
[National and local details quoted are the most recent CSO figures, usually Census
2006 and the associated Small Area Population Statistics, unless otherwise specified.]
The first set of questions in the survey required participants to select from a list of
options to indicate: their age, gender, place of residence (out of the 6 electoral areas of
the county), age of completing full-time education, accommodation type, household
type, occupation, and whether they used a computer. The results were as follows:
Age: survey participants covered the whole over-55 age range, with the 70–84 year
olds most strongly represented. 24% of participants were in their 60s, 40% in their 70s,
and 27% in their 80s. The proportions in each age group differed somewhat from the
2006 county profile, with the largest differences at the lower and upper ends of the age
range. This may suggest that (i) a relatively small number of 55-60 year-olds join older
people’s groups and (ii) people over 80 are disproportionately likely to be members.
Table 1: Age groups of survey participants
% survey
participants
% in DLR 2006
55-59
5.2
23.4
60-64
9.3
20.4
65-69
14.4
17.4
70-74
18.9
14.3
75-79
21.6
11.4
80-84
20.6
7.4
85-90
6.9
5.7
90 +
2.4
( inc. in 85+)
Not stated
0.7
0.0
100
100
Age group
Grand Total
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Gender: three-quarters of all participants were women, mirroring proportions among
active Network members in all groups, and the fact that there were four women-only
groups participating. Women made up between 70% and 80% of all age groups of
survey participants, except the over-90 group, which was all female.
These results suggest that women of all age groups are more likely to be involved in
groups for older people than are men, since (according to Census 2006) the
proportions of men and women in most age groups in the county’s older population are
very different: 56% of all over-55s in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown in 2006 were women,
and 59% of all over 65s. However, in the oldest age-groups women predominated:
almost 70% of all over-80s were women.
Participants’ places of residence covered all the electoral divisions of the county,
with the largest numbers of participants (35%) living in Dún Laoghaire itself, followed
by Ballybrack (23%) Dundrum (14%), and Glencullen (10%) The smallest numbers
were in Blackrock and Stillorgan (9% each approximately).
Accommodation: most (82.5%) of survey participants were owner-occupiers, and 14%
were council tenants. A small number (only 1.4%) were in private rented
accommodation, and only one person stated ‘residential care’ as their accommodation.
(Nationally, 5.5% of over 65s were in nursing homes or hospitals in 2006.)
Figure 1: Survey participants and housing
survey participants: accommodation
(n=291)
1%
1%
0%
0%
1%
owner-occupied
14%
council rented
private rented
residential care
hostel
other
not stated
83%
Although numbers were too small to draw definite conclusions, it was noticeable that
more women than men were council tenants (16% compared to 5%), and
correspondingly less women were in owner-occupied homes (80% compared to 94%).
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
The overall owner-occupier figure for Network members is very close to the most
recent national figure of 80%, although studies of the over-65s in Ireland suggest an
even higher proportion may own their own homes. 38
Households: almost 50% of the survey participants lived alone, and almost everyone
else lived with a spouse and/ or other family members.
This does not reflect the proportions in the general population (where among the whole
over-65 age group across the country, 27% lived alone in 2006), but it perhaps
indicates that people living alone are more likely to become active members of groups
and societies than are people living as a couple or in a family setting.
Occupations: around 10% said they were employed/ looking for work; 75% were
retired, 14% said ‘home duties’.
Given the age range of survey participants, there is a reasonable match with the recent
national position in which around 15% of the over 60 age group (mostly those under
70, and predominantly men) were still in some form of employment39.
Education: almost a quarter of survey participants left full-time education by the age of
14, another quarter by age 16. Over one-third continued in full-time education to age
19, so presumably completed upper secondary level. 13% were in full-time education
for longer, so are likely to be graduates.
Figure 2: Survey participants - age of completing full-time education
Age completing full-time education
(n=291)
3% 4%
10%
23%
All finishing at 12-14
All finishing at 15-16
All finishingat 17 -19
All finishingat 20- 24
All finishing at 25+
35%
25%
No age stated
This profile confirms the fact that overall Dún Laoghaire Rathdown population has the
highest overall educational achievement of all Irish counties. Census 2006 showed that
48% of over 65s nationally had only primary education, 16% lower secondary only,
18% had upper secondary (Leaving Certificate level) and 17% third level or higher.
38
39
Fahey T. et al, 2007: A Social Portrait of Older People in Ireland. Dublin: ESRI.
ILO statistics for 2006, quoted in CSO Ageing in Ireland 2007
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
However it also shows that, among socially-engaged older people in the county, there
is a substantial proportion (around 50% altogether) who did not obtain upper secondary
education. There is a strong case for increasing the provision of ‘second chance’
education for this group, especially those with primary schooling only.
Computer users numbered only 35% of all participants. There was a big gender
divide, with only 29% of women, but 58% of men, saying they used a computer. There
was a further divide among women, who were somewhat less likely to be computer
users if they lived alone than if they lived with a spouse and/ or children.
It may be of interest to note that nationally, in 2006, almost 25% of households with at
least one person over 65 had an internet connection. As with educational attainment,
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown levels of computer use (and ownership) across all age
groups are likely to be somewhat higher than national averages.
Even so, the fact that only around one-third of the survey participants (and less than
30% of the women participants) ‘use computers’ is significant, given the other survey
findings in relation to obtaining information, to social interaction, and to activities for
older people, as well as the growing requirement for people to access information
electronically for a variety of practical ‘daily life’ purposes.
It presents an opportunity to increase both the provision of age-appropriate (and
perhaps gender-appropriate?) computer training and the availability of more easilyaccessed public computer facilities, as means of increasing social inclusion of older
people.
Figures 3a and 3b: Male and female survey participants’ computer use
m en's com puter use (n=67)
w om en's com puter use (n=218)
8%
2%
29%
40%
58%
yes
yes
no
no
no answ er
no answ er
63%
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
2. The big issues
Preparatory work by the Network committee had identified a number of issues of serious
concern for older people locally. So in the next set of questions, an issue was named
and participants were asked to state whether it was a major problem for them, a minor
problem, or no problem at all. Combining the responses of those who rated it as a major
problem with those who rated it as a minor problem produced striking results:
o
Safety on the streets was by far the most problematic issue for most people
(67% of all participants rated it as a major or minor problem);
o
Around 50% of participants said they found (a) transport, (b) information on
services and entitlements and (c) security in their homes all problematic to
some extent;
o
38% of people said that health services and access to them were problematic
to some extent;
o
35% rated age-related discrimination as problematic.
Figure 4: What issues are most problematic for older people? (n=291)
big issues for older people
no answer
no problem
minor problem
serious problem
sa
fe
ty
on
th
e
st
re
et
s
tra
ns
po
rt
in
fo
rm
se
cu
at
io
rit
n
y
at
ho
he
m
al
e
th
se
rv
ice
s
ag
ei
sm
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Further information on most of these issues was provided by survey participants in
response to the following question in the survey, and as additional information at the end
of the survey. Specific information on both transport and health problems was provided
in response to questions about satisfaction or otherwise with available services.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
3. What one thing would you change to improve your life as an
older person in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown?
Two-thirds of the participants (197 people) responded to this open question. While a
small number said emphatically that there was nothing they wished to change, most
responses focused on improving daily life through relatively modest changes in the
environment and in services.
There was a definite consistency between the responses to the previous ‘big issues’
question and the topics most frequently mentioned. Of the various improvements
suggested, transport matters – mostly better bus services, but also better and cheaper
parking facilities – received 65 mentions, almost three times as many as the next most
frequently cited issues, which were improved pedestrian safety on streets and roads (23
comments) and social life and activities (22).
Other changes wished for included: easier and more reliable home maintenance,
improved council services (footpaths, seating, libraries, waste collection) and more
contact and support from local representatives. Other desirable changes listed included
better local policing, improvements in health and social services (including information
and access), changes in social attitudes to older people, and more contact with local
representatives.
The complete listing is being provided to the Network itself, but the following selection of
comments give an indication of the range of contributions to this open question.
[Note: other comments provided in response to Q.10 have been placed later in the
report, to illustrate the findings in relation to specific survey questions.]
Some points that were made illustrate issues of concern to many older people:
I would like to stay in my own house and have home care and house
improvements without long delay.
I wish there would be a stronger community spirit and care for
neighbours.
For people to remember that everyone gets old…young people should be
taught that and have respect for older people.
Local representatives – when they were mentioned, it was to rebuke them for not
paying sufficient attention to older people:
To get some support from DLR, which is NIL at present!
We would like Rathdown to meet us and hear our problems now and
then.
Council services were frequently mentioned:
More seating needed around Main Street [not specified].
The village enhancement scheme for Cornelscourt to be completed and
made more pedestrian friendly.
Better services like cleaning roads, cleaning drainage…graffiti removed.
Get Tesco trollies off our streets.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Information and access to it:
Gettiing information on entitlements more easily…should be more userfriendly.
More information on …insulating our homes, refuse collection
especially…unwanted furniture.
More information made available to residents about developments,
especially in Dundrum area.
Public transport – general comments and issues:
Just a regular scheduled local bus service.
A better bus service for those of us who do not drive to attend hospital.
A shuttle to the Luas.
Covered waiting stops.
Specific problems with public transport –participants named around 20 different
issues to do with specific bus services (or lack of them), including:
A regular service from Dublin to Dalkey. We miss the no 8 very much.
No bus to Dundrum from Goatstown, since 75 taken off – handy for
church.
A bus going through Cabinteely to Dún Laoghaire would be a great
asset.
To get the 7B to run once an hour every day of the week.
3 mentions of bus service needed for Loughlinstown Hospital.
Access to transport:
Old people need more accessible public transport.
Better access to DART station.
I would like to live nearer a bus route.
Parking facilities in Dundrum and Windy Arbour (for Luas).
Car parking – availability and cost:
Spaces to park on…seafront. One can no longer walk the pier.
Parking for older and less active people [in Dundrum area] is very
scarce.
Reduce parking fees, far too expensive for OAPs. Bray is 50c per hour!
Safety – pedestrians dealing with roads and traffic; pedestrian lights:
Enforce traffic and parking rules. It’s ‘any old place will do’ mentality –
no regard for other road users or pedestrians.
Improve road quality…I have poor eyesight and roads are dangerous
Pedestrian lights on N11 where there are footbridges…Most elderly
people cannot ‘do’ these bridges.
More crossings on Ballinteer Avenue…to go to PO, shop, hardware,
there should be another.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Safety – footpaths:
Better surfaces on footpaths.
Repair the footpaths!
Policing:
More bike and foot Garda patrols.
Gardai patrolling streets when there are complaints about drunk youth
gangs and drug youth gangs, to try to stop ths
Do something about safety in the streets and vandalis
Home security
I would install a security camera to check before opening the doo.r
Would like better security. Two cracked windows from stones thrown.
Health and social care services – and access to them:
More home visits (presumably from GPs).
Access to a doctor in hospital – not students.
I would like to feel that because of my age (85) I could press a button to
inform social services that I had taken ill.
More places to cater for the aged & infirm, local Alzheimer services.
Daily life – shops and banks. Several comments on specific local problems:
Have a bank in Glasthule.
Re-open the shopping centre in Shankill
A small supermarket in the old Dundrum shopping centre would be of
tremendous benefit.
Daily life – house and garden maintenance
Reliable and reasonable workmen and women.
If applying for help [it’s] all bureaucracy – get this signed here and
there…
Social life and activities for older people:
I would like company!
To have more people visiting me.
Facilities for older people to meet more often and mix with younger
generations
Better activities and more social outings
More services for active retired
A register of interests so people with interests in common could get
together…could be organised as a website …
Better access to transport for senior citizens’ outings at lower cost
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
4. Are older people’s voices being heard by local
representatives?
The expressed intention of the Network for Older People is to bring the concerns of
older people to the attention of County Councillors and Council staff/ the Community
Section. Yet it appears from the responses to the question, ‘are older people’s voices
being heard by local representatives?’ that Network members overall were not
convinced that older people are being listened to.
Over 40% of the participants answered ‘no’, and only 17% gave a definite ‘yes’ in
answer to this question, while the high proportion of ‘don’t know’s (35%) suggests that
for many people, there is little evidence that their views and concerns are given enough
weight by their elected representatives.
Figure 5: Perceptions of local representatives’ responses to older people’s concerns
Are local representatives listening?
(n= 291)
4%
17%
yes
35%
no
don't know
no answ er
44%
The views of some of those who answered ‘no’ might be summed up by one succinct
comment provided as additional information at the end of the questionnaire form:
Heard but not acted on!
5. The contributions of older people to community and society
The Network committee considered it important to focus on older people’s active
engagement with, and positive contributions to, their communities and the wider society.
A series of questions sought to explore this in fairly general terms, and produced
interesting findings, especially where these can be compared to recent national figures.
Group membership: in addition to their membership of an older people’s group, over
half of the participants (52%) were members of other groups and associations which
were not specifically for older people; for some, this was central to their general
satisfaction with life.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
The following quotation, provided as additional information at the end of the survey,
underlines the importance of local groups and networks in supporting their older
members:
Coming here after 35 years abroad…we have settled down happily in
[part of DLR]…We have found here an impressive sense of community.
People are genuinely friendly helpful and outgoing. Our membership of
[name of church] parish community has been of particular value…
Volunteering: more than half the participants (54%) were involved in volunteering
activity (they were not asked to specify, but the question mentioned charities, sports
groups church-based groups and community organisations). Interestingly, the men’s
volunteering rate was higher at 60% than the women’s (51%). [Note: the questionnaire
was concerned with the overall picture and perceptions, and avoided any hard and fast
definition of ‘volunteering’, and any quantification in terms of time.]
Overall, this was more than triple the rate indicated by Census 2006 data, which showed
only around 15% of all over 65s engaged in one or more voluntary activities.
Some of those surveyed were keen to do more, as these comments indicate:
If I were more mobile, I’d do a lot more. 18 months waiting for an operation
in Cappagh!
I would like to make more of a contribution to community services (allowing
for my age and circumstances).
Unpaid care work: just over one fifth (22% or 64 individuals, fairly evenly
divided between men and women) had ‘regular caring responsibilities for a family
member, friend or neighbour’.
For most of them, time demands are relatively light - 40% were caring ‘only
occasionally’ and 20% for a few hours each week – but 11% devoted a few
hours every day to their care work, while, surprisingly, 23% (15 people, of whom
13 were women) said they were ‘full-time’ carers.
Figure 6: Time demands of participants’ caring responsibilities
Time spent in care work (n=64)
5%
23%
occasional care w ork
41%
a few hours a w eek
a few hours each day
full-time caring
no answ er
11%
20%
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
In the 2006 Census, only 3.9% of over-65s described themselves as carers. However
almost half of those were effectively caring full-time (over 43 hours a week). Clearly this
level of caring responsibility makes it difficult to be an active member of a local group.
Voting: 94% of survey participants voted in the last national election. One or two of
those who didn’t explained that they were in hospital at the time. The pilot phase had
suggested that a small proportion of older people in the county are not Irish or UK
nationals and so would not be eligible to vote.
This voting record by Network members, as stated in the survey, exceeds the already
impressive figure for eligible voters over 65 in the 2002 General Election, 86% of whom
cast a vote. It is clearly seen as an important duty:
I always do!
Summary of findings relating to older people’s contributions to society
These results of the survey of Network members show higher levels of volunteering,
caring and voting than was the case for older Irish people generally in the most recent
Census. It seems likely that active membership of an older people’s group will be closely
associated, for a variety of reasons, with greater engagement with the local community
and the wider society than is the norm across the whole older Irish population.
6. Needs and issues (i): Transport
Car ownership and use: questions about car ownership in the household, and whether
the survey participant drove the household car, produced the information that, while over
60% of participants (177) live in households with a car, just less than half (137) said they
drove the car themselves.
However, there was a gender dimension to this aspect of daily life: more men than
women (87% of all men surveyed but only 54% of all women) lived in a household with a
car, and twice as many men were drivers (79% of all men, compared to 38% of all
women).
Health/ disability and travel difficulties: one-quarter of all participants said they had a
disability or health condition that made travelling difficult for them. This suggests
particular problems for those dependent on public transport.
Census 2006 found that almost 30% of people over 65 had a disability, with numbers
increasing with age. Just over half had a chronic illness.
One explanation for the somewhat different Network figures (in answer to a later
question, almost 30% said they had a health problem or condition that interfered with
daily life) is that they are based on an over-55 rather than an over-65 population. It is
also likely that active members of older people’s groups have on average better health,
and less disability, than the whole older population.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Types of transport used for local travel: asked to indicate all forms of transport
normally used for local travel, three-quarters of those surveyed said they used buses for
some or all of their travel, while 64% used cars.
Luas and DART were each used by around 40% of all participants, while just over one
quarter used taxis. There were very few minibus users (6% or just 17 people, probably
for attending day centres) and even less were cyclists (3% or 10 people). A handful of
people named walking as their ‘other’ form of transport, but the survey did not
specifically seek information on getting around locally on foot.
Getting out and about: most people (just over three-quarters) said they used more
than one form of transport for local journeys on at least 2 or 3 days in the week (this
included 40% who used transport on most days of the week).
The other 25% who were dependent on one form of transport only were evenly divided
between car-users and bus-users.
Main form of transport: for almost 45% of participants, the car was their main form of
transport, and for 37% it was the bus. There is a gender dimension here: the group of
107 people who use the bus as their main form of transport included just over 40% of all
women participants, but just less than 20% of all the men.
Travel purposes and needs: just over 80% of all participants used transport to get to
hospital appointments, almost the same proportion used it to visit friends and family,
while 68% used transport for shopping, and for other social and leisure needs. 57%
used transport to see their GP, while 45% used transport to attend church. Less than
25% used transport for adult education or similar purposes.
Figure 7: Purposes for which local transport was used
percentages of all participants using transport for particular
purposes (n=291)
adult education etc.
church
GP
23
45
57
social and leisure activities
68
shopping
68
visiting friends and family
hospital appointments
79
81
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Satisfaction with available transport? There were contrasting experiences for
different participants, linked to their own health, car ownership, and the public transport
situation in their neighbourhoods. Around 60% of participants were happy or very
happy, 20% were undecided, but almost 20% were unhappy or very unhappy, with the
transport available to them. When giving reasons for dissatisfaction, most cited:

inadequate and erratic bus services, or no services at all in certain areas,
unhelpful drivers, long waits at cold bus stops, no buses to hospitals;

The cost of taxis - pensioners who have to use taxis for lack of public transport
found them too expensive;

The difficulty of finding parking spaces, and the high cost – both were problems
for older drivers in this survey.
Several participants cited the same reasons for dissatisfaction, underlining the serious
difficulties for some older people in relation to normal daily life and activities:
‘From where I live there is no public transport to church, library, hairdresser, Post Office,
active retirement activities or the park’
‘In order to me to access (1) my doctor (2) St Michael’s and St Vincent’s Hospitals (3)
collect my pension (4) do my shopping and bring my food home (5) attend my church, I
have to use and pay for a taxi and I worry about …expense of this on my pension’
‘Local bus service very undependable. Buses don’t come on time. This entails long waits
standing at bus stops. I find this…physically difficult and often painful’
‘There are no buses in Ballally at all to go anywhere!’
‘Bus not available to Loughlinstown Hospital. Only means to get to Luas is by car’
‘I am waiting for a hip replacement. The bus drivers are very unhelpful’
‘I get cold waiting for [the bus] and it is not a frequent route. Have to get taxis a lot,
especially to go to St Vincent’s Hospital which is not on a bus route’
‘I would love a seat and a bus shelter at every stop, also time of next bus arrival!’
‘I could not go to day care centre unless I am collected and brought back two days a
week. I use a taxi for all other daily needs’
‘I can only drive short distances, not in rush hours or after dark. If unable to drive, taxis
are too expensive and bad bus service’
‘If I could not drive for any reason, I would be completely cut off, as I cannot walk any
distance’
‘[It’s] difficult to find parking at DART stations’
‘I will not drive to Dún Laoghaire – lack of parking spaces’
‘Parking is a major issue – no parking outside my GP service. Fees are very costly for
pensioners. There should be one hour free parking for people shopping, attending
weekly mass, visiting the library etc. This could be done with a ‘clock’…on the
dashboard showing time of arrival’
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
7. Needs and issues (ii) Safety and security
As with the ‘big issues’ earlier, participants were asked to state whether a particular
aspect of life in their own neighbourhood was a major problem, a minor problem, or no
problem at all. Combining the responses of those who rated each issue as a major
problem with those who rated it as minor showed:
o
Footpaths were the biggest problem area; they were problematic to some degree
for almost 75% of participants;
o
Vandalism was problematic for 65%, and anti-social behaviour for 58%;
o
Pedestrian crossings were a problem for 50%;
o
Street lighting and illegal drug use caused some problems to 40% of
participants.
Figure 8: Participants’ views on specific safety and security issues
problems of safety and security (n=291)
no answ er
no problem
minor problem
serious problem
fo
ot
pa
th
s
va
an
n
da
ti s
li s
oc
m
ia
lb
pe
eh
de
av
st
io
ria
ur
n
cr
os
si
ng
il le
s
ga
ld
ru
g
us
st
e
re
et
li g
ht
in
g
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
There were a considerable number of comments on footpaths in response to the earlier
open question about changes to improve older people’s lives, including:
Have the footpaths in [my area] properly repaired and maintained. In their
present state they are a danger to the elderly and disabled.
Streets roads and parks should be cleaned better and more often,
especially of dog poo!
Get rid of cobblestones on main streets.
A lot of rubbish is left out on the streets – danger of tripping over it.
Ban cyclists from the footpath…I am terrified I will be knocked to the
ground.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Several of the suggestions for making life better for older people in Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown and the additional comments provided at the end, referred to pedestrian
safety more generally:
Speeding cars in residential areas
Improve road quality in [their area] I have poor eyesight and roads are
dangerous
Safety at road junctions
Enforce parking rules…no regard for other road users or pedestrians
There were very few mentions of vandalism in comments provided, but a
number related to the implications of ‘anti-social behaviour’ for older people:
The public park…needs better supervision, especially in summer time.
Anti-social behaviour around the entrance in evenings, at weekend
and in early hours of the morning.
Social contact: More than half the participants (56%) said they met and talked
with neighbours and/ or friends most days or every day of the week.
However, for just over a quarter of participants (76 people), this contact took place on
just one or two days each week, and for another 15%, direct contact with friends and/or
neighbours was ‘occasional’.
Figure 9: Face to face social contact during the week
face to face social contact
(n=291)
never
2% 1%
occasionally
15%
24%
once or tw ice a
w eek
26%
32%
most days of the
w eek
every day of the
w eek
no answ er
Contrary to expectations perhaps, there was little difference between men and women in
relation to these social interactions; presumably because the men surveyed were
already well ‘connected’ through their membership of a group or club.
Among the comments relating to social life and social contact, provided as additional
information at the end of the survey, or in answer to the question about changes to
improve life for older people, were several about personal isolation and loneliness:
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
There is no social life for older people
When your family live overseas, companionship can be an issue
I would like more people visiting me
But for my son I would be lost. He lives abroad.
Others were more focused on increasing the availability of activities for older people and
addressing the lack of places where older people can socialise with each other and with
younger people:
More access to activities at local level for older people, and easily
accessible
I’d like to see clubs set up for older people to meet and go walking and
exercising together
I would like a community centre for older people, a place that would be
open every day of the week… to drop in and have a chat
A meeting place for getting to know other like-minded people e.g. book
club, dancing, exercise classes, film club etc.
Better access to transport for senior citizens’ outings at lower cost.
However, others expressed satisfaction with activities and contacts available to them:
I enjoy being a member of Active Retirement Groups in my area – making
friends and keeping fit. Thank you!
Garda presence in the neighbourhood: participants were fairly evenly divided in
relation to how satisfied they were with local policing. Almost 30% were unhappy or very
unhappy with the level of Garda presence, 35% said they were happy, and a 34% were
undecided, which suggests low levels of confidence overall in the Gardai as protectors
of older people.
Figure 10: Participant’s levels of satisfaction with Garda presence in the neighbourhood
satisfaction with local policing
(n=291)
very unhappy
7% 2%
9%
unhappy
20%
28%
neither happy nor
unhappy
happy
very happy
34%
no answ er
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Two of those who were unhappy commented, in relation to changes which would
improve life:
Just to feel safe and secure in my home.
Safety at home is not good. I don’t feel safe. We need better Garda
presence.
Information on home security: 30% of participants said it was not easy to get
information about home security measures, but just over 40% said it was easily
obtained. 26% didn’t know (so possibly hadn’t tried to obtain it).
It should be noted that, in answer to an earlier question (‘the big issues’) 50% had said
that security at home was not a problem for them.
7. Needs and issues (iii): Financial matters
Income adequacy: three-quarters of all those surveyed said their income at present
was sufficient for their needs. However, this was not the case for just over 20% overall,
slightly more than 1 in 5 of participants. However, there was a gender dimension:
income inadequacy was the case for 25% of all participating women but only 12% of all
participating men.
Figures 11a and 11 b: Participants’ levels of income adequacy: men compared to women
incom e adequacy: m en (n=67)
12%
0%
yes
no
no answ er
88%
incom e adequacy: w om en (n=218)
1%
25%
yes
no
no answ er
74%
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Women and low income:
Although the numbers were small, some findings in relation to women and low income
bear further examination.

First, among the women who said their income was insufficient, the highest
proportions were in the youngest and oldest age groups.

Second, while only a small number of women (35, or just 3%) lived in council
rented accommodation, almost half of this group said their income was
inadequate, compared to just over one-fifth of women in owner-occupied
accommodation.

Third, putting inadequate income and age of leaving full-time education side by
side showed that the highest proportion of women with inadequate income
occurred in the group who had left school by age 14, a group which accounted
for almost one quarter of all women in the survey. Just over 40% of them said
their income was insufficient, compared to, for example, 17% of those who
remained in education to age 18.
Finally, there was no obvious connection for these participants between their
household situation and income adequacy. Similar percentages of women living alone
and women living with a spouse and/ or children (25% in both cases) said their income
was insufficient.
Information about financial entitlements: some people (around 13%) found it hard to
obtain information about their financial entitlements, and around 20% of all participants
said the information was hard to understand when they do obtain it.
I live in [area of DLR]. I don’t know where to apply for…information or
entitlements. I have [close relative with serious disability] living with
me…I am sure we are entitled to fuel allowance but don’t know where to
apply.
Managing on the State pension: a number of additional comments provided at the
end of the questionnaire reflect the difficulty of managing on a low income:
I can live on Social Welfare pension but not much leeway for luxuries or
emergencies
210 euros a week!!
They also illuminated the information-related difficulties:
Getting information regarding entitlements etc. more easily. Getting
pushed from one person to another on the telephone if you have a
query. It should be easier and more user-friendly.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
8. Needs and issues (iv): Health, and health and social care
services
Self-assessed health status: the majority of participants (60%) assessed their own
health as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, and only 8% said it was ‘poor’ or ‘bad’, with roughly
equal proportions of men and women responding in this way. The others (30%) were
non-committal.
Health problems or conditions affecting daily life: there is an apparent contrast
between these self-assessments of general health and the fact that almost 30% of all
participants (with little difference between proportions of men and of women) went on
to say that they had ‘a physical or mental health problem or condition that interferes
with daily life’. The explanation may be that a significant number of older people live
with an ongoing condition which they manage well; they may equally have adopted a
stoical attitude to what they see as inevitable problems of older age.
One example was the person who said their general health was ‘good’ then in
commenting on the services available, explained how she attended at least three
specialised clinics, all dealing with serious health conditions.
Satisfaction with health and social care services: more than half the participants
(54%) were happy or very happy with the health and social care services they use in
the county, 12% are unhappy or very unhappy, but around one-third are undecided.
Those who were unhappy with various aspects of services cited as problems:
o
o
o
o
o
long hospital waiting lists;
the difficulty of obtaining information;
poor attitudes of healthcare staff; lack of continuity of care;
inadequate out of hours services (GPs); and
the difficulty of contacting community nurses.
Health information: Just over 20% said it was difficult to obtain information on health
services.
GPs received a very high rating, with 82% happy or very happy with their local GP
service. Those who were unhappy mainly talked about issues of availability –
especially at night or weekends – and having to wait too long for appointments.
The comment of one person who was very happy with their GP suggests the qualities
that most older people would seek from the service:
We’ve had the same GP for 33 years – efficient, reliable, caring,
available.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
District/ community nursing service: A high proportion of participants (80%)
were not users of the community/ district nursing service, although some
would like to avail of it. (It is possible that some had used it in the past, but the
question did not allow for this to be indicated.)
Of the 50 or so survey participants who used it, three-quarters were happy with it. The
general impression from the explanations of those who were not satisfied was that they
regretted the unavailability of a universal service, with routine visits to all older people
in their homes and a more regular follow-up after treatment:
I would like it if they kept in touch as you get older
Some people commented on the difficulty of making phone contact with the nurse:
She’s not there when I ring, and she never gets back to me
.
9. Additional comments
More than a quarter of participants added extra comments at the end of the survey
form. These covered a wide range of topics, but better public transport, and the need
for more activities and meeting places/ spaces for older people, covered in earlier
sections of this chapter, featured again very strongly.
Among other responses to the invitation to provide additional comments were some
expressing positive personal attitudes to older age:
Every day is a new educator for me. I don’t consider myself old and
never will!
Overall, not bad!
Some comments underlined the importance to older people of their personal support
networks (and by implication, the problems faced by those without them):
In general, I consider that older people are well looked after. I am
fortunate in having a good family, neighbours and friends, all of whom
look out for me, and on whom I can call if I need help.
Another group of comments related to the increasing difficulty of maintaining house
and garden as people age, and the problem of finding reliable and affordable help with
these straightforward tasks:
Being over 80 I find it difficult to look after my garden, get rid of grass
cuttings etc.
[I need] a maid and a gardener!
A register of tried and recommended tradespeople…would be a
godsend.
There were several heart-felt comments on participants’ neighbourhoods, illustrating
the importance of environment to a sense of well-being, perhaps especially for older
people who may spend more time in their locality post-retirement.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Interestingly, one important finding of the SLAN 2009 report on mental health and
social well-being is particularly relevant to the specific comments of survey participants
from different parts of the county:
Respondents in rural areas are more likely to report that poor public
transport and lack of food shops area problem in their neighbourhood,
whereas respondents in urban areas are more likely to report that
rubbish lying around, vandalism, house break-ins, people drunk in
public, graffiti and insults are a problem. Associations are also found
between perceived neighbourhood problems and higher levels of
psychological distress and lower levels of energy and vitality.
SLAN report 2009, p.5 (italics
mine)
The gap between the experience of those for whom the immediate environment is a
source of pleasure and satisfaction, and those for whom it is the opposite, can be
illustrated by the following two contrasting quotations:
As I live in Dalkey, close to the town, church and DART, all within
walking distance, I am not a good judge of services generally. I regard it
as one of the fortunate accidents of my life that I came to live here…
The village of Dundrum is destroyed…all the extra cars and
people…great sadness to see the change, and the dirt of the village…(2
individual comments combined)
A summary: finally, one person summed up very clearly the comments of many of the
participants, and the experiences they refer to, touching on some of the key
components of well-being in older age:
I think overall older people are relatively well served, providing they
have adequate income and transport. Policies should focus on
encouragement of more and better community involvement by all.
-0–0–0-
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Chapter 5: Consultations with key informants
For a different perspective on, and insights into, the situation of older people in the
county, a series of consultations was held with key people in a number of different
organisations and agencies providing services for older people in Dύn Laoghaire
Rathdown.
It should be borne in mind that only in the case of the County Council (and the Network
for Older People, described in the previous chapter) does the geographical reach of
services and activities coincide with the county boundaries.
This was a relatively small and selective series of consultations, which did not expect to
produce a comprehensive overview, but had the potential to provide important
information and insights and to suggest directions for further investigation. As with the
Network survey, this strand of the research did not engage directly with organisations
specifically concerned with important – if numerically small – groups of older people in
the county, such as older Travellers, those with Alzheimers, those with disabilities
(including intellectual disability) and older people in residential care, although those
consulted were well aware of these potentially vulnerable groups. This remains an
important task for the future.
Nevertheless the consultations have provided a great deal of potentially very useful
data, informed by the professional knowledge and experience of those who were
consulted, which should be valuable to those with responsibility for thinking and
planning for the future of older people in Dύn Laoghaire Rathdown – who should clearly
include the older people themselves!
5.1 Main themes and topics
A ‘topic guide’ (included as Appendix 5) was agreed with the Partnership as a
framework for these consultations, but was not rigidly adhered to. Within this
framework, the discussions focused first on factual matters: the role of, and services
provided by, each organisation in relation to older people, along with information about
its ‘catchment area’, the organisation’s definition of ‘older people’ for the purpose of
service provision, and any overarching goals or ‘mission statements’ relating to those
services.
Where possible, those consulted were asked for a broader view from their particular
perspective of: the position of older people in the county; the positive achievements in
service provision, and what seems to be going well; and any challenges and gaps the
organisation or its representative had identified.
More specific topics on which views were requested included older people’s
information needs, and their contributions to their neighbourhoods and the wider
community.
All informants were asked to identify, from their perspective, the most disadvantaged or
excluded older people. The final question was: what new services or programmes are
needed to better support these and all older people in the county?
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Some of these topics were similar to those highlighted in the survey of Network
members (covered in Chapter 4), and where relevant, the views of the older people
who participated in that survey are briefly referred to, alongside the information and
views of the organisations consulted.
5.2 Organisations and agencies consulted
Among statutory providers, the researchers met with staff of:





Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council
RAPID Programme for designated disadvantaged areas of DLR:
Loughlinstown, Shanganagh and Rathsallagh
Health Service Executive (Older People’s Services and Community Nursing)
in Dún Laoghaire Local Health Office area (mostly within DLR County) and LHO
Area 2 (large areas outside the county boundary)
An Garda Siochana (Community Policing) Cabinteely district.
Dún Laoghaire VEC (Community Education) – covers approximately the
Eastern half of the county.
Two voluntary organisations were consulted:
 The Irish Association of Older People (national, but with headquarters in Dún
Laoghaire)
 St. Vincent de Paul Society, Monkstown Branch.
Nine consultations in all were held with representatives from these bodies, and the
results are contained in this chapter. Quotations in the text, unless identified as from
written sources, are taken from these consultations.
In addition, the Chair of the Network for Older People, and the DLR County Council
staff member responsible for liaison with the Network, were interviewed about the
Network itself. The information from those interviews has mostly been incorporated into
Chapter 4.
…/ over
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
5.3 Findings from the consultations
5.3.1 Organisations’ roles, remits and services for older people
DLR County Council: Community and Enterprise Department
The role and remit of the Council’s Community and Enterprise Department is to work to
the Implementation Plans of the County Development Board, in order to promote social
inclusion. A specific task is to ‘help communities to identify their needs... come to terms
with those needs, and having done so... to meet those needs.’
Services relevant to older people: Nine local Resource Centres, providing activities
which generally include senior citizens’ groups, are supported in areas identified as
disadvantaged. The Council operates a Community Grants Scheme, intended to assist
community groups to address local issues.40
DLR County Council: Housing Department
The role of the Housing Department is to provide social and affordable
accommodation, and to administer the grant scheme for repairs. It also provides
tenancy sustainment, supports and outreach, and housing welfare services.
Services: there is a dedicated housing list for older people, and 850 units (out of a total
of 4,000) aimed at older people.
There are three social housing schemes with resident caretakers (Beaufort,
Rochestown House and Kilbegnet). Some schemes have a mixture of households but
most are for older people only.
The Disabled Persons’ Grant Scheme is administered by the Housing Department and
over 90% goes to older people with a disability related to ageing.
The RAPID programme is a country-wide Government initiative, overseen by Pobal
and supported by County Development Boards, which channels investment into
specific disadvantaged areas in response to needs. There is one RAPID programme in
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County, which focuses on Loughlinstown and Shanganagh /
Rathsallagh (there are more older people in the latter).
Services include: putting in place a community transport initiative (for all residents);
establishment of ‘Over 50s’ clubs for social interaction and retirement preparation; and
developing an ‘Ageing with Confidence’ programme. Men’s groups and activities for
older men are being planned.
Recent capital projects responding to older people’s needs have included: equipment
for an Over-50s club in Loughlinstown; kitchen refurbishment of Shankill Old Folks’
Centre, which provides Meals on Wheels; a day room for older people in Shanganagh
Park House (community centre).
40
http://www.dlrcoco.ie/CCDA/community/ComGrantsIntro.htm
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
HSE Services for Older People are provided through local Health Offices, under the
auspices of the Primary, Community and Continuing Care pillar of the HSE. These are
community-based services, as opposed to acute hospital services.
Services for older people include:






Provision of public, and supervision of private, residential care (moving to HIQA,
the Health Information and Quality Authority);
Provision of Home Help and home care attendants;
Administration of home care support grants and home care ‘packages’;
Day care – services provided in a variety of settings;
Community-based chiropody, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and nursing
services;
Supporting Meals on Wheels services (mostly working with voluntary
organisations).
These services are provided following referral from a GP or public health nurse, and
appropriate assessment of need.
The Manager of Older People’s Services in Dún Laoghaire chairs the Service
Providers’ Forum, which in 2007 produced a conference report, Healthy Ageing: a
Challenge for the County41
An Garda Siochana’s role is to ensure a safe and secure society for all, and they
provide community policing services in the county. Through day-to-day contact, the
community Gardai try to get to know older people in their areas, and there is regular
contact with older people’s organisations and clubs, especially Active Retirement
groups. Community Gardai sit on the Older People’s Service Providers Forum, chaired
by the HSE.
Services: the Community Gardai work with Neighbourhood Watch on the distribution of
pendant security alarms.
Talks are given to older people’s organisations on safety and security, covering the
issue of elder abuse among other topics (through the ‘Get Wise’ programme).
At the request of the HSE, Community Gardai may be directly involved in cases of
alleged elder abuse. Support is also provided to older people who are victims of crime,
in addition to the investigation of the crime itself.
Assistance is provided in individual cases, in collaboration with the HSE, Lions Club, St
Vincent de Paul Society and others, including ‘Living Links’ counselling service.
The remit of the VEC’s Community Education service is part of the overall Adult
Education service, and grew out of the commitments to disadvantaged groups,
including ‘the elderly’, in the White Paper Learning for Life (2000) which focused on
strengthening communities and specified developing older people’s IT skills. It operates
on the basis of ‘meet[ing] the expressed needs of local community groups in relation to
education and training’.
41
The researchers have been unable to access a copy of the report.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Services: tutors are provided to community-based groups including older people’s
groups wishing to run non-accredited courses and training. Priority is given to
beginners’ courses in IT skills, alongside another course such as art, a language, etc.
and the funding is normally provided for two 10-week courses.
A very successful Internet Café for seniors was run as a summer project in 2008 and it
is hoped to repeat this in future.
The VEC is collaborating with Southside Partnership on pre-retirement courses, in the
context of the current County Development Board Plan.
Adult Literacy and Adult Guidance services are available to all adult learners, and in
Dún Laoghaire this includes many older learners.
The Irish Association of Older People is a national voluntary body, with
headquarters in Dún Laoghaire, and no paid staff. Its membership is open to all who
consider themselves ‘older’ and it ‘advocates and supports active participation of older
people in social, economic, cultural and spiritual life at local, national and European
level’42
Services: the organisation is not a service provider, but aims to be a forum for older
people to engage in debate and take action, and a strong voice influencing decisionmaking about services (‘we make submissions all the time!’). It has been invited to
represent older people at a variety of national and EU forums and planning bodies, and
is consulted by government for its expertise.
The Association provides information to older people on practical matters, policy
developments etc. through its quarterly magazine, Getting On, and it undertakes
relevant research.
A member of the organisation offers training to local older people’s groups in the selfmanagement of chronic conditions.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVP) is a non-profit organisation providing
services to those in need – whatever their age and circumstances - through person-toperson contact. While financial and practical assistance may often be provided, there is
an emphasis on helping people to help themselves by building up their self-esteem and
coping skills. The Society operates in small parish-based groups, called ‘Conferences’,
whose work focuses on visiting and assisting local people who approach them for help.
In terms of local services, affordable holidays are arranged by the Society for older
people, and special grants may be provided at Christmas to help with the cost of gifts
and providing a meal for family members, which can be important for self-respect.
At present, very few older people are receiving ongoing financial assistance from this
Conference, but ‘moral support’ and friendship to older people coping with difficult
circumstances have been provided in a small number of instances.
42
www.olderpeople.ie/whatwedo.htm
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
5.3.2 Definitions of ‘older people’
It is striking that, among the organisations consulted for this research project, there is
no commonly-agreed definition of what constitutes the ‘older’ age group.
The HSE’s services for older people are provided and administered, and budgets are
allocated, on the basis of the 65+ age group.
For the Gardai, the ‘older’ age group normally begins at age 65, except in cases of
specific vulnerability.
In relation to housing, County Council regulations on sheltered and supported housing
for older people currently use the lower age limit of age 60, though consideration is
being given to reducing this to age 55.
For RAPID purposes, people are considered to be in the ‘older’ age bracket on
reaching age 50, and the Programme has particularly supported ‘Over 50s’ groups in a
number of neighbourhoods, to promote social inclusion and good retirement planning.
The VEC Community Education service has no specific definition of its own. Working
with older people’s groups and with day care centres, they accept the definitions
operating in those contexts.
Membership of the Irish Association of Older People (like the majority of nongovernmental and non-profit organisations in the field) is open to all who consider
themselves to be older.
The society of St. Vincent de Paul does not have any age-related criteria for its
services and support.
There is a variety of membership criteria among the groups in the Network for Older
People in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown: some are for ‘over 50s’ or ‘over 55s’; Active
Retirement groups focus on the person’s retired status; ‘Old Folks’ are self-defined;
while a group based on a specific activity and meeting during the daytime (such as the
Indoor Bowling Group) will find that most of its members are both retired and ‘older’.
This wide range of definitions is a useful reminder of the sheer diversity of the large
sector of the population labelled as ‘older people’, who cannot be reduced to a set of
common characteristics, or made to fit neatly into any one set of administrative
categories.
5.3.3 Aims of the organisations and agencies consulted
All those consulted were asked to state the main aims of their organisation and its
services, and their responses indicated somewhat different views and visions of the
older population, related to the organisation’s particular remit. Not all of them have a
focus on the older population per se, but deliver their services to older people as well
as to younger people.
This suggests one major advantage of developing a new National Positive Ageing
Strategy, and a vision of Ireland as a good country to grow old in, with specific and
achievable aims in relation to the older population and based on up to date research
and information about different cohorts of older people.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
A clearly-articulated national Strategy would be a strong framework to guide thinking
and planning at local and organisational level, and could ensure not just enhanced
practical cooperation, but a stronger alignment of the work of the different statutory and
voluntary bodies concerned with older people.
The Irish Association of Older People provided what was probably the strongest
statement of aims: its positive conviction that ‘the life journey should be life-enhancing’
and so the organisation’s role in ‘supporting positive ageing’ is to ‘inform, empower and
enable!’ all older people. This includes the most vulnerable, for whom others must
speak and act when they cannot do so themselves.
The County Council’s emphasis is on social inclusion and, in relation to older people,
ensuring that people do not become marginalised because of their older age.
The overall aim of the RAPID Programme is ‘to improve quality of life for the residents
of these communities…through targeting government investment and improving the
coordination of existing services, mainly among County Development Board
members’43
Older people are not specifically named as a target group but one of the aims of the
current five-year RAPID plan is to ‘develop a range of programmes of support which
encourage older people’s participation’.
The current commitment of the Dún Laoghaire VEC is to ‘a quality lifelong education
service that is…responsive to social economic and demographic trends and needs’.44
In community education, the aim is ‘to meet the expressed needs of the local
community groups in relation to education and training’.
One of the main goals stated in the current Education Plan is to ensure that ‘all
programmes and services are accessible and socially inclusive’45, and ‘older people’
are named, along with ‘disadvantaged women’, people with disabilities, Travellers and
others, among those groups it has prioritised in its community education work.
The Gardai work to ‘ensure security’ of older people, including ‘crime prevention,
safety and the protection of life and property’.
A new National Model of Community Policing was launched in January 2009, with the
aim of contributing to a safe and secure society, based on core values, including

Respect for people and their needs

Promoting human rights

Being a courteous and caring public service

Maintaining partnerships with the community

Promoting and accepting diversity in all its forms.46
One of the objectives outlined in the new Strategy is ‘to engage in a communityfocused approach to provide solutions that reduce the fear of crime’.
43
http://www.dlrcoco.ie/COMM_ENT/index.html
Dún Laoghaire VEC 2006. A vision for Lifelong Learning: Education Plan 2006-2010,p. viii.
45 Ibid, p.37
46http://www.garda.ie/Documents/User/National%20Model%20of%20Community%20Policing%
20-%20Jan%2026th%202009.pdf
44
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The HSE’s overarching objective is: ‘to provide services that improve, promote and
protect the health and welfare of the public’.47
Services for older people aim to ‘ensure independence and quality of life…by
maintaining them in their own homes for as long as possible’.48 As stated in
consultations, this also means ‘to empower and enable older people to maintain and
support the best quality of health’, and there is a new emphasis on health services
working in partnership with individuals and their families.
5.3.4 Similarities and differences between the situation for older
people in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown and in the country generally
The comments here echoed the findings of the demographic research (Chapter 3).
It was well recognised by those consulted that Dún Laoghaire Rathdown has an
untypical population profile: ‘the sheer size of the older population is a challenge’ said
one service provider. There is a larger older population here than elsewhere, and a
significant proportion of them are more educated and more affluent than averages
elsewhere. Most of them, especially in the 60-70 age group, are healthy and active,
and require little by way of health and social care services. (It was mentioned that at
any given time 85% of older people are fit and well across the whole country, and this
is certainly true of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown.)
However, those working ‘on the ground’ are well aware of disadvantaged areas,
scattered among the better-off neighbourhoods, and of the hidden disadvantage and
exclusion of individual older people, for example in private rented accommodation.
They are also aware of numbers of older people who left school with only primary or
lower secondary education, and those in poor health including those needing long-term
care in their own homes or in residential settings.
More than one commentator pointed out how the county’s general affluence, allied to
poor spatial and transport planning and low provision of social and affordable housing,
has had a negative impact on many older people. Many families became
geographically separated as younger people forming their own households had to
move away to find accommodation, leaving whole areas populated predominantly by
older people, cut off from close contact and support of younger family members.
Alongside this, relatively well-off older people from elsewhere have chosen to move in
to desirable areas of the county, particularly along the coast. These population shifts
may have reduced the levels of traditional ‘neighbourliness’, which provided an informal
safety net for older people in the past.
Another side effect noted was that the county’s perceived economic well-being may
have hindered the development of some public services: a comparison was made
between provision of residential care in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown and in Dublin City. It
has also made it difficult to recruit and retain young professional staff.
47
48
Headline on website www.hse.ie
HSE Annual Report 2008, p. 18
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It was noted that the county is distinctive in relation to its traditional voting patterns.
Overall, its voters tend to support more liberal policies and positions, especially on
matters of personal morality etc.
Some commentators felt that the county offers a much greater range of opportunities to
people as they age than do many other places.
Transport links, compared to predominantly rural areas elsewhere, were felt by some of
those consulted to be relatively good (at least on routes linking to Dublin city centre).
In general, those consulted were well aware of the extremely varied levels of well-being
of older people in the county: while some of them experience all the benefits of active
and financially secure old age in locations that have a great deal to offer, others remain
economically and socially marginalised and live in very poor conditions. The outcomes
of the Network survey illustrated this range of experience very clearly.
5.3.5 Older people’s participation in decision-making
‘Nothing about us without us’ is the slogan adopted by the Older and Bolder campaign
– a grouping of the major non-governmental organisations for older people pressing for
a comprehensive new national strategy on positive ageing, encompassing all aspects
of older people’s lives, and following international best practice. It seemed important for
this project to ask the various service providers about current practice and future plans
in relation to the involvement of older people in planning and in decision-making.
The organisation with the greatest level of participation was the Irish Association of
Older people, where older people lead the organisation and make up its membership.
As a national organisation, however, it lobbies at national and international level, so it is
not normally involved in planning or delivering services in a local context.
Listening to older people: in general the statutory providers are extremely willing to
make existing services responsive to the expressed needs of older people locally, and
to engage in outreach (‘to go out and ask’) but have not yet devised ways to involve
them systematically at a prior stage in the planning and designing of services
themselves, or in prioritising the use of resources for the benefit of the older population,
sometimes because of sheer lack of resources to do so. However, they do generally
recognise the principle that ‘we must have the voice of older people’.
Many of the service providers sit on the County’s Service Providers’ Forum (older
people’s services), with Committee members from the Network for Older People, so
some contact and listening takes place between statutory agencies and the Network.
The Network itself was set up a few years ago by the DLR County Council to provide a
link and channel of communication for its officials and Councillors with a variety of
groups across the county, and it is also represented on the Community and Voluntary
Forum.
Thinking about representation: these arrangements may represent the start of a
process of developing stronger forms of consultation. However, the majority of groups
in the Network are Active Retirement groups, while others are based in day care
centres, or focus on a specific shared leisure, cultural or sporting interest.
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Such groups may or may not have internal mechanisms which can be used for
consulting members on broader matters of policy and provision of services for the older
population, but it cannot be said that there is a system in place for thorough-going
consultation of all those who participate in the Network. Even more clearly, no
strategies have yet been proposed for involving the majority of older people in the
county, who do not belong to groups included in the Network, or indeed to any
organised older people’s group, in such consultations on matters which vitally affect
them.
The survey of Network members included a question relating to representation, and it
was noteworthy that the majority of those participating, despite their involvement in
their own groups and in the Network, were unconvinced from their personal experience
that older people’s voices were being heard by local representatives.
There is a good deal of work to be done here if older people’s voices are to be as
representative as possible and to be fully heard and acted on. Some of it has to be at
local and ‘grass-roots’ level, where more than one contributor commented that older
people often need to be encouraged to get involved in running community centres or
residents’ associations; they often exclude themselves through a kind of internalised
ageism, which undervalues the contribution they can make.
5.3.6 Older people’s contributions to their communities and to
society
This topic was not discussed with all those consulted, but when it was, one of the main
themes was the enormous value of the voluntary contributions made by older people in
a variety of contexts across the county. The following specific points were made:
o
Volunteers in charity shops are almost all older people (mainly older women);
o
In their immediate neighbourhoods, many older people are to be found running
residents’ associations (often the same people who were involved in setting up
playgroups at an earlier stage in their lives!) and Neighbourhood Watch;
o
Most of the active members of Lion’s Clubs and St Vincent de Paul Society
are older people;
o
Older people have been involved in the Dún Laoghaire Refugee Project (this
was probably the only mention of immigrants/ minority ethnic people during the
consultations);
o
Church-based activities are frequently dependent on older people’s
contribution of time and energy;
o
Active Retirement Associations and the Older People’s Network are other
examples of positive contributions.
o
A high level of volunteering among older people in the county was also indicated by
the findings of the Network survey.
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Grandparents’ often substantial role in caring for or ‘minding’ their grandchildren is
seen by several contributors as a feature of more families’ lives, now that mothers as
well as fathers are likely to be in paid employment – and it can be made more difficult
and tiring for older people because of the ‘spatial separation’ of families in the county.
One contributor mentioned a special case of grandparents who are now foster carers
for their grandchildren, and another the need for grandparents in similar situations to
act as role models for children whose parents are in serious difficulties.
It was noteworthy, though, that, otherwise, very few service providers consulted spoke
of the wider unpaid caring roles that many older people have for a spouse or child, or
sometimes for a friend or neighbour (one in five of survey participants) and of the
support needs of those undertaking extensive caring work.
A number of those consulted stressed that there is an important role for healthy and
active older people, as advocates on behalf of other older people who are not in a
position to speak up for themselves. This role should be developed and supported.
Finally, one contributor felt strongly that older people’s ‘experience and wisdom’ were
important untapped resources which have the potential to benefit the whole community.
To adequately utilise their experience and wisdom, ageist attitudes in the wider
community – and sometimes in older people themselves – have to be addressed.
5.3.7 Provision for older people overall – positive developments
Service providers were asked simply: ‘what’s going well?’ in relation to provision of
services for older people, and in general each responded with comments on the
positive developments in their own services.
Progress noted by more than one contributor included the fact that there is a much
wider range of services and supports for the older population than previously.
More than one also mentioned the increased communication and cooperation between
agencies, achieved through the work of the Service Providers’ Forum, as a very
beneficial development.
The fact that older people are living longer, healthier lives, and that 85% of older
people in the county, as indeed nation-wide, are generally fit and well, are positive
achievements in themselves.
Other positive developments at local level that were mentioned included:
o
The impact of home care packages, which are working well and succeeding in
supporting people at home rather than in hospital;
o
Older people are taking more responsibility for their own health and care, and
the ‘younger old’ are more likely to ask for what they need, and not to leave
decision-making which affects their lives to the health professionals;
o
Some feel that provision of social housing is going well (though others had
reservations about policies which can segregate older people from the rest of
society);
o
Community policing methods are helping the Gardai ‘get out there’, and training
of Gardai for work with older people is proceeding well;
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o
The Network for Older People is up and running and has good potential. The
success of other, more local, social networks was also mentioned;
o
Older people have begun taking a stand and to articulate their wishes more
forcefully and publicly, as the demonstrations about the over-70 medical card
scheme in 2008 showed.
5.3.8 Services for older people overall – challenges and gaps
Challenges and gaps mentioned were frequently concerned with health and social care
services, and corresponded to much of what was said by individual older people
participating in the Network survey. Those identified by the organisations and agencies
consulted included:
o
Lack of resources generally, especially in relation to health and social support
services, is a serious issue. Home care packages are an example of slow or
delayed implementation of plans and infrastructure which are good in
themselves and could produce major benefits for older people.
o
Poor coordination of services across different agencies, or weak coordination
of different services within the same agency, was mentioned more than once.
o
Age awareness training is needed for staff of services who work with older
people, for a fully professional service to be delivered.
o
It is essential for all those concerned with policy and provision of services for
the older population to develop and act on a fully-informed awareness of its
diversity. Different generations have different characteristics and needs, but
the tendency of planners and service providers has often been to project the
needs of earlier generations (such as those people who are in their eighties
now) onto those 20 years younger who are retiring now, and whose life
experience and expectations are very different.
o
For a number of those consulted, the difficulty of making contact with older
people who are not linked into a recognised group is an ongoing challenge.
o
There is uneven service provision across different areas of the county. For
example there is no day care centre across the whole Stepaside – Sandyford –
Dundrum area. (Possibly this arises from a mistaken assumption that the older
age groups are all concentrated on the east side of the county.)
o
Again, there is no sheltered/ supported housing for older people in the whole
densely-populated Dundrum area.
o
The need for respite care across the county exceeds its availability.
o
In relation to elder abuse, three issues were highlighted:
One is the lack of legislation to underpin the provision of services by
statutory agencies;
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The second is the uneven availability of specialist staff. In the LHOs
which cover the county, the approach to the issue of elder abuse is to
appoint specialist social workers to each primary care team. However,
specialist care teams have yet to be appointed, and so there is currently
a lack of these key professionals;
The third is the reluctance of older people in this situation, or their
concerned friends and relatives, to report the problem, and if necessary
press charges.
o
A new group of people in need are the ageing members of religious orders.
Many of them used to work in service provision, but may now need services
and support themselves.
o
Loneliness is increasingly recognised as an issue that calls for a greater
response from services.
o
There is a marked lack of suitable housing for older people to move into in their
own communities, and this is considered to be a legacy of short-sighted
planning in the past. Separating older people from the rest of society by
allocating them to housing complexes intended only for older people can be a
major cause of isolation and distress.
o
When older people do move to special accommodation such as sheltered
housing, there are no services to support them in the transition, or in settling in
and making connections in their new locality and community.
o
Many agencies are faced with a major challenge in the form of the
combination of urban and rural areas in the county.
o
Reduced levels of volunteering, from one contributor’s perspective, have
created difficulties in ‘traditional’ areas such as drivers for Meals on Wheels,
and assistance in Day Care Centres, which are funded by statutory services but
often depend for day-to-day operations on unpaid volunteer staff.49
o
Some of those consulted were concerned of the effect of the withdrawal of the
medical card from some people over 70, in terms of their ‘health behaviour’
and the possibility that they will neglect minor health problems which may then
develop into more serious conditions.
Some of these comments chimed with what the older people participating in the
Network survey indicated, especially in relation to ageism, the weak coordination
among services, and the problems of loneliness.
49
In contrast, recent correspondence with staff of the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Volunteer
Centre indicates a current over-supply of volunteers in relation to work available for them. It may
be a matter of the nature of the work itself in some instances?
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5.3.9 Older people’s information needs
Information, in the words of one contributor, is about ‘connecting people with services’.
Those consulted were often very aware that, despite their best efforts, the needs of
older people for information which could enable them to make positive improvements in
their own lives – on entitlements, health and social care services, education/ training
and leisure opportunities, home security etc. – are not always adequately met. (The
findings of the Network survey certainly underlined this.)
Word of mouth, especially among active members of older people’s groups, seemed
to some commentators to be the most effective way of disseminating knowledge of new
entitlements and services, for instance in relation to home security grants, though it
was acknowledged that not all older people can be reached in this way. Even so, well--advertised information-provision meetings based in older people’s groups may not be
well-attended, and service providers may be reluctant to commit resources to them.
Person-to-person information-giving is important in another setting: community
nurses continue to be a vital source of reliable and person-centred information about
health services and entitlements etc. for those they visit, and for their families.
However, another commentator pointed out that, because there are no routine visits by
public health/ community nurses to all those over a certain age, some individuals who
need health and social supports but do not actively seek them (for whatever reason)
may go without services that could improve their quality of life.
Distributing printed information, such as the forthcoming Directory of Services and
Activities for older people in the county, via established groups, health centres, libraries
and other points where people use services, is frequently seen as an effective strategy,
but is not guaranteed to reach ‘hard to contact’ older people.
There were differing views on the effectiveness of the ‘Directory’ model for delivering
information. Because ‘the goal posts keep changing’ in relation to health and social
care services especially, it is difficult for any information sources to keep up to date, but
this is particularly true of printed documents.
In relation to Citizens Information Centres as a source of information, one informant
felt that, while the information is certainly available in the Centres, volunteers delivering
it sometimes lack communication skills and wider understanding of older people’s
issues. Their information-giving skills need to be strengthened if older clients are not to
experience frustration.
Local Health Centres, which might be a focal point for information, may not be easily
accessible to older people with impaired mobility. A conspicuous example is the recent
move of the Dundrum Health Centre away from its original central point, at ground level
in the old ‘village’, into a relatively high rise building above the Ballally Luas station, a
location which requires pedestrians to cross a series of extremely busy roads.
Accessing information by phone may cause frustration to older people because of
the range of different officials they need to speak to in order to obtain information on
health and social care services, and because of the difficulties of automated telephone
systems. A ‘customer services’ model or ‘one-stop shop’ for telephone enquiries was
proposed as a solution by one of those consulted.
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There seems to be a particular difficulty in communicating information about
education and training opportunities for older people to some of those who could
benefit from them. (There may be a connection here with the relatively low proportion
of those participating in the Network survey who appeared to be involved in adult/
community education.)
Accessing the information they need is difficult for the many older people who do not
have computer literacy or easy access to the internet. There is a clear case for
expanding age-friendly provision of IT training in the county by a variety of means.
(Figures from the Network survey showed only just over a third of those otherwise
‘connected’ older people used computers.)
Since access to clear and reliable information, and ease of understanding information
once obtained, were also identified as problem areas by a significant minority of the
Network’s survey participants, it will be important to explore through research just how
older people (and different groups of older people) access and acquire information at
present, and then use those pathways for effective dissemination – and perhaps also to
encourage them to consider greater IT take-up.
5.3.10 Identifying disadvantaged and excluded older people
As with the age group question, there was no common, shared, sense of what factors
are most relevant to a definition of ‘marginalised/ excluded/ deprived/ disadvantaged/
vulnerable/ at risk’ older people. Different dimensions - whether economic, health/
ability-related, security-related or otherwise – tended to be seen as most significant
from different organisational standpoints. (In the consultations, the researchers
deliberately used the terms interchangeably, to try to get beyond organisations’ own
terminology and conceptual frameworks where possible.)
However, while there was clear concern that some categories of older people were not
availing of services that are in place and could improve their quality of life, perhaps the
main theme emerging was that of the risks and corrosive effects of social isolation
where individuals lack supportive family and social networks and are not linked in to
existing systems of monitoring and care.
The following groups or categories of older people were specifically indicated by one or
more of those consulted. In all cases, people in these categories are hard to identify
and reach, and the development of appropriate supports and services is likely to be
challenging.
o
Older men as a group were identified as being at particular risk of isolation
and exclusion by the RAPID Coordinator and that of the VEC Community
Education organiser. There is a particular concern about men in their fifties and
early sixties who have or will become redundant in the current economic
downturn, and who may face a retirement they have not yet planned for,
psychologically or financially.
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o
Older people living in private rented accommodation may be marginalised
and are often ‘hard to reach’. They are much less likely to be linked into
services or to receive relevant information on entitlements etc. than council
tenants are. There are concerns for this group of private tenants as they age: if
the house or apartment becomes dilapidated, a landlord may fail to maintain it
properly, putting the physical and possibly mental health of the older tenant at
risk. There may also be problems with the physical layout of accommodation,
such as steep staircases, as people age.
o
Also identified were those in local authority housing who need sheltered/
supported accommodation but for whom it is not available because of the
extremely short supply, especially in the west of the county.
o
Older people with disabilities and serious chronic conditions have special
needs, and were considered a vulnerable group, or set of groups, at risk of
exclusion and disadvantage. They included:
(1) Older people with long term intellectual disability – a group of
older residents in St John of God’s hospital/ care home in Stillorgan was
cited;
(2) Older people with any form of physical disability, a particular
concern for the RAPID programme;
(3) Older people with Alzheimers were mentioned more than once as
a particularly vulnerable group, likely to be excluded from community
life;
(4)The Irish Association of Older People takes the view that it is the
responsibility of the more able older people to stand up for the
rights of the less able, and to speak for those who cannot speak for
themselves. The ‘voiceless’, according to the Association, include those
with Alzheimers, and ‘the frail elderly’ in care homes.
o
Those experiencing elder abuse were considered to be particularly vulnerable
and at risk of exclusion.
o
There are strong indications of a category referred to by one informant as ‘the
unlabelled excluded’, who are a particular concern in a largely affluent area
such as Dún Laoghaire Rathdown.
These may be people from middle-class backgrounds who find themselves
isolated in older age, often living alone in houses too big for them to manage,
and too expensive to maintain and heat on a restricted income. Such older
people may be ‘invisible’ to current services because they are scattered around
the more affluent areas of the county, have few family members, friends or
helpful neighbours close by, are ‘asset-rich but cash-poor’, and often assume
that no support is available to them, or are too proud to seek it.
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As one contributor said, ‘it can be harder to fall through the net in an affluent
neighbourhood’, where support services are not active, and where local social
networks may be weaker.
Another aspect of the experience of this category of older people is their
tendency to attend a day care centre strictly for a purpose such as chiropody,
but not to socialise with others using the centre. It was noted by more than one
contributor that, because of the history of many such centres – ‘for the poor’ there can be a social stigma attached to attending one.
o
The Gardai identified: ‘those who are not “joiners”’ as more likely to be
vulnerable and at risk of exclusion – especially since their information services
aimed at increasing older people’s security and safety are delivered through
existing groups and networks.
o
A linked category may be those with ‘poor coping skills’ – such as recently
widowed older women whose spouses had been solely responsible for a range
of practical and financial matters for the household.
o
Unmarried ‘older old’ people: it was pointed out that the marriage rate for the
generation now over 80 was ‘the lowest ever’ in the history of the state, so
members of this older age group have a higher chance of moving into extreme
old age alone than will subsequent cohorts.
5.3.11 Suggested new services for the disadvantaged/ excluded,
and for older people in the county as a whole
A wide range of suggestions were put forward by those consulted, including
recommendations on the principles which should underpin the development of new
services:
o
Stronger and more wide-reaching forms of ongoing consultation with older
people were recommended, in order to develop services and supports that
accurately reflect their needs and wishes.
o
The voice of older people needs to be strengthened at local as at national
level, and any reluctance to speak out in support of their right to positive ageing
overcome.
o
The sheer diversity of the older population, across its whole 30 – 40 year
age range, must be acknowledged, and there needs to be an emphasis on the
appropriateness of all services provided, and activities offered, to different
categories of older people. In other words, person-centredness is key.
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Housing, transport and health/ social care strategies and actions:
o
Planning at county level should focus on the need for strong communities and
family/ social networks to support older people – these are greatly affected by
housing and transport policies.
o
A rethinking of policy on the provision of social housing for older people is
urgently required, to promote continuity and social inclusion.
o
Since some forms of ‘care’ can have the effect of separating people from their
friends and neighbourhoods, new models of residential care must be
developed and put in place which do not ‘ghettoise’ older people, and create an
environment lacking in stimulus, in which an individual’s independence and
levels of activity can seriously decline. The new ‘Household/ Teaghlach’ model
in West Cork and in Dundalk is pioneering this approach.
o
In terms of health and social services, good ‘ageing in place’ strategies need
to be developed and implemented. Most older people greatly prefer to stay at
home as long as feasible, and there is strong economic logic to this strategy.
Overcoming isolation, creating opportunities for learning and personal growth:
Since social isolation and the accompanying sense of loneliness are major factors
in the deterioration of mental and physical health in older age, a range of measures
to overcome isolation are extremely important.
Specific suggestions arising in the consultations included:
o
‘Retirement planning for all’ which could be a valuable preventative measure
and support continued social inclusion as people move into older age.
o
A phone-call system (‘Good morning Dún Laoghaire Rathdown!’) for personto-person support should be put in place. The new service based in Bray, could
be extended or emulated.
o
Low-cost ways of getting older people together around shared interests or
through special value regular lunches in pubs and restaurants, marketed
specifically to older people (this is very successful in older communities in the
US) were also recommended. This, and lunch clubs for older people, were
suggested as better alternatives to Meals on Wheels for many people.
o
Some contributors stressed the importance of integrating services for those
with disability into general services for older people, to avoid artificial
separation of those with disability, who need the support of and interaction with
their peers. The ‘Active Minds’ programme based in Dún Laoghaire, was
commended in this regard.
o
New ways to involve older men in further learning, as well as in health-related
and social activities must be developed. Men tend to be in the minority in any
mixed group, and there were no examples mentioned of groups for older men
only, though some, such as Probus Clubs, have mostly male membership.
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o
Similarly, people with particular cultural interests (travel, classical music,
languages, literature, history/ archaeology etc) do not change their interests
because they have become ‘older’ though they may have less disposable
income to expend on them. (The activities listed for the various groups in the
Older People’s Network are clearly indicative of strong social/ educational
stratification in this regard.) Lack of stimulus for such people in residential care
has been an unfortunate feature of provision to date.
Intergenerational activities:
Intergenerational activities with a purpose can enhance social integration and help to
overcome ageism, while in some cases providing the stimulus of new learning. Recent
examples quoted were: the passing on of traditional skills – gardening, knitting, baking
etc – by older people to teenagers; young people in transition year assisting older
people with technology (computers, mobile phones etc).
o
The recording of local oral history is an important vehicle for maximising
older people’s contribution to the life of the county, and for increasing younger
people’s understanding of the different experiences of older generations.
Security and safety measures:
o
It was recommended that Dún Laoghaire Rathdown should engage more
consistently with older people in relation to the built environment – making it
safer and more manageable for them will benefit all sections of the population.
o
The services of the Gardai for older people need to extended through more
outreach work and the strengthening of community policing.
o
Also in relation to security, it would be valuable to extend the personal alarm
system beyond council tenants, according to one contributor.
Voices for the voiceless:
o
The development of advocacy services for older people unable to speak for
themselves is an urgent requirement, and the predictions for growing numbers
of ‘older old’ people in the county highlight the need for this.
Legislative developments:
o
Legislation is needed to underpin work and services relating to elder abuse.
o
A strong framework for advance care directives needs to be implemented.
…/ over
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An enabling framework: policy and resources to support change
Finally, several contributors saw provision of funding and staffing resources as the
key to implementing and extending the many excellent policies and plans for older
people’s services already in place, as well as to developing new ones.
In this context, it was pointed out that achieving full implementation of strategies and
measures already in place – such as the establishment of all the proposed primary
health care teams, with their associated senior social workers, and the implementation
of access requirements under the current disability legislation – would benefit the whole
population of the county and not just older people, or those officially ‘with a disability’.
Finally, it was noted that if the government fulfils its commitment to draw up a National
Positive Ageing Strategy, based on adequate consultation with older people, this
would boost fresh thinking by service providers at local level, and help to strengthen
‘joined up thinking’ among agencies, and cooperation between the statutory and
voluntary sectors.
Note: interestingly, there were one or two topics that never surfaced to any extent in
the consultations.
One was older people as unpaid carers for sick or disabled family members and others,
as mentioned above. The other topics that were absent were, first, ideas on ways in
which businesses, their older staff and older customers could also benefit from a new
approach, and, second, the role of employment and new models of retirement in
enabling older people to live life as they choose. These areas could be taken up in
future discussions.
-0–0–0-
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Chapter 6: Conclusions and recommendations
General conclusions
This research process has yielded a great deal of information from a variety of sources,
which it is hoped will be of value to Southside Partnership in developing a stronger
future role vis-à-vis the needs of older people in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown. The
process also focused on the actual and potential contributions of older people to local
communities and the wider society, as powerful resources for creating positive change.
All of the outcomes are summarised in the section on ‘Main Findings’ in the
Introduction and then set out in detail in the central chapters of this report.
Given the Partnership’s mission of addressing disadvantage and promoting social
inclusion, it is important to restate that most of the research findings relate to what one
contributor referred to as the ‘85%’ of older people, the great majority living healthy and
active lives of their own choosing, who feel equal in their own communities, and are
integrated to greater or lesser degrees into local life and activity.
But the old-established communities in urban and rural parts of the county are
changing, with younger family members moving away and neighbourly networks
weakening. The result for some older people on restricted incomes can be the risk of
poverty or, if not poverty as officially defined, of more subtle forms of exclusion
because of transport or mobility difficulties, ill-health, poorly-coordinated services, or
lack of access to the information they need, as results of the Network survey showed.
And the issues that affect the 85% must affect in larger measure the significant minority
of older people whose life experiences include additional challenges.
The scale and scope of this research did not permit exploration of the experiences and
issues of many within this minority: older residents of the county who are in residential
care; people in sheltered housing; those with long-term disability or serious chronic
illness; the frail and housebound ‘oldest old’; older full-time carers; older Travellers and
members of other ethnic minorities, and possibly other groups who are excluded from
mainstream community life. These are areas for future research.
In terms of statistical information, while a great deal of useful and illuminating data has
been compiled, not all the statistics required to generate a complete demographic
profile of older people in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown were readily available. Some
specific queries for which Census information is likely to be available (for example, on
older carers in the county) would require special data requests to the Central Statistics
Office. Information on economic circumstances – such as the location of individuals
receiving non-contributory pensions – is unlikely to be obtainable. In other instances,
the fact that geographical areas served by statutory agencies do not coincide with
county boundaries is a barrier to obtaining valid local statistics.
Nevertheless, the demographic information gathered here represents a substantial step
in the Partnership’s process of engaging more closely with older citizens in the county,
and it highlights and substantiates many perceptions and insights of those working on
the ground with and for them.
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Recommendations
Throughout the work on the Network survey and the consultations with service
providers and others, a large number of positive and practical recommendations for
policy, planning and service provision were made, covering many aspects of older
people’s lives. Most will be found in the body of the report, but the full list of Network
members’ comments and proposals for change can be provided on request50.
The following recommendations arise directly from the experience of conducting this
research project. Most were put forward by the experts themselves – older people –
and by those working closely with and for them. Others are conclusions about the
important areas for strategy and action, which emerged strongly from the analysis of
the various strands of data.
Creating a climate for change
Southside Partnership’s role includes the potential to influence high-level thinking and
strategising in the county in order to enhance the well-being and quality of life of its
older people. It can also be a catalyst for creating new coalitions and partnerships
which can address some of the specific issues highlighted in this research project.
In terms of overall thinking and strategy:

It would be valuable if Southside Partnership, and all agencies concerned with
older people in the county, lent their weight to calls for the government to fulfil
its promise to older people by producing the new National Positive Ageing
Strategy. The local impact of such a national framework could be substantial.

Whether or not the Strategy is in place, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown could, like
Louth, draw up its own blue-print for the county as a great place to grow old in,
drawing on the Louth experience, as well as on principles and best practice
outlined in the major international charters for older people, and on the work of
high-level ‘think tanks’ like Ireland’s Ageing Well Network.

Given the national trends in population ageing, which will affect Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown before many other areas, the county and relevant bodies within it
should be planning ahead: first, how best to utilise and celebrate the
‘demographic bounty’ of its older population, and second, how to provide for the
needs of the ‘oldest old’ in the future. Creative thinking might suggest
productive links between the two.

When the new findings and fresh understandings of the Social Inclusion Report
(Unique Perspectives 2009) are disseminated locally, the risks of deprivation
and exclusion faced by some older people in the county should be
foregrounded in the context of tackling disadvantage.
50
Southside Partnership has on file an electronic read-only copy of the full statistical findings of
the survey, and the complete lists of proposals and comments that were contributed by
participants.
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
However, when highlighting the situation and needs of older people, it will be
important to give full recognition to their diversity, and to promote the principle
of person-centredness in planning and provision of all services.

Increasing the alignment of the geographical boundaries of different agencies
and services would benefit service providers and service users, making it easier
and more effective to build on existing partnerships and to develop new ones.
Promoting participation and the voice of older people
Promoting and developing participation, both at very local and at county level, and
strengthening the voice of older people to articulate their own needs and determine
their own futures, could be a key focus for the Partnership and appropriate to its social
inclusion agenda. Their more effective participation could be supported through
attention to a number of different but inter-related dimensions:

Promoting and supporting the systematic participation of older people on public
bodies and decision-making fora in the county, which could aid ‘age-proofing’ of
new plans and measures.

Finding innovative ways to maximise their potential contributions, and increase
their activism on their own and others’ behalf at grass-roots level, whether as
participants in local initiatives or members of groups and organisations in the
county (Ageing with Confidence programmes can help here);

Extending learning opportunities for those whose education finished early;

Facilitating channels of communication, and enhancing the capacity of Ccountylevel bodies, elected local representatives and service providers to accurately
hear and appropriately respond to older people and their needs and wishes;

Encouraging the development at county level of a more thorough and ongoing
consultation process with older people, building on the positive existing links
with the Network for Older People, but also seeking mechanisms to involve the
majority of older people who are outside the Network, including those who are
‘hard to reach’. Systems used elsewhere for senior citizen consultation could be
explored for relevant models.
Strengthening the Network
To realise the Network’s potential as a clear voice for older people in the county, its
capacity should be strengthened (this might include part-time professional staffing
and/or appropriate mentoring), to enable it to increase links with its constituent groups
and other organisations for older people, expand its membership, and develop its own
mechanisms for consulting systematically on policy and service provision.
The preparatory meeting for the Network survey revealed members’ enthusiasm for
interaction, and a strong interest in meaningful new projects. The momentum could be
maintained through a follow-up meeting to present the outcomes of the survey for
feedback, and to stimulate discussion on how to make productive use of them for the
benefit of older people in the county and for the Network itself.
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Older people’s issues: an agenda for action
There is a great deal that the Partnership can do to make sure that issues affecting the
well-being of older people are kept prominently on the county’s agendas, and that
strategies and action plans are devised to address them.
This is likely to mean encouraging the creation of coalitions of relevant agencies and
organisations, including local businesses, along with substantial input from older
people themselves, especially at the stage of overall planning and prioritising.
There could also be great benefits all round if the potential of older people’s ‘wisdom
and experience’ was tapped into by involving them directly in actions to address the
problems identified.
The following, which were all highlighted strongly in the research process, could be
elements in an overall strategy to promote inclusion and enhance the well-being of all
older people in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown.
Local transport

Relevant bodies should continue working on cost-effective solutions to
problems identified in relation to local transport, particularly transport to hospital
appointments, for essential shopping and to maintain social life.
‘Safety on the streets’

Exploring the different dimensions of this with older people

Tackling inadequacies in relation to pavements, lighting etc.

Working with the Road Safety Authority on pedestrian safety

Working with the Gardai to reduce the disproportionate fear of crime among
many older people
Information

Building older people’s IT skills and increasing public computer/ internet
facilities

Researching with service providers and users what works and what doesn’t in
current information strategies
Homes for older people



Increasing the supply, and matching the design and location with older people’s
wishes
Making residential care homes more like ‘home’
Promoting the setting-up of affordable and reliable house and garden
maintainance services
Changing attitudes

Provision of age awareness and anti-ageism training for service providers,
businesses and others including local representatives

Supporting imaginative intergenerational activities
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Reducing isolation, increasing fulfilment

Responding to older people’s wishes for more activities and opportunities for
social interaction

Exploring possibilities for involving more older men in social and learning
activities
Reaching the ‘hard to reach’
Finding imaginative ways to make contact and engage in dialogue with potentially
excluded groups of older people – who may also be ‘hard to reach’ – as a first step in
understanding their situation, needs and wishes.
As well as those listed above (p.132) attention could also be paid to some other groups
of older people who may be at risk of isolation and deprivation, particularly those in
private rented accommodation, and older women with a disability who live alone.
Supporting carers
Two distinct groups of older carers could benefit from greater contact, understanding
and support, and finding ways to do this could usefully be explored:

Grandparents caring for their grandchildren while the parents work;

Older people caring for sick relatives and those with disability - including
relatives with intellectual disability and mental health problems.
On the face of it, many of these may seem problems and issues facing older people
only, but finding solutions to the problems they have identified will in many cases yield
definite benefits for the whole community. In addition, ‘older people’ are not ‘others’ –
we all hope to become ‘older people ‘one day!
Stating its commitment to a more age-friendly society and putting specific plans in
place for bringing it about will enable Dún Laoghaire Rathdown to play its own part in
realising at local level what the UN Madrid Declaration called
A shared vision of equality for people of all ages.
(Declaration, Article 19)
-0–0–0-
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Appendices
1. Bibliography / references
2. Relevant policy documents: international, national and documents
from Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
3. The older population of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown by age, 2006
4. Key informants consulted in the course of the research
5. Outline of topics for consultations with key informants
6. Network for Older People in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown:
text of survey questionnaire
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APPENDIX 1: Bibliography / references
International documents
United Nations 1991, United Nations Principles for Older Persons. New York: U.N.
United Nations 2002. Report of the Second World Assembly on Ageing, Madrid April 2002.
New York: U.N. (includes Declaration and International Plan of Action on Ageing)
World Health Organisation, 2007. Age-friendly Cities: a Guide and Checklist: Essential
Features of Age-friendly Cities. Geneva: WHO.
Swedish National Institute of Public Health, 2006. Healthy Ageing: a Challenge for Europe.
Stockholm, Swedish National Institute of Public Health for the European Healthy
Ageing Project 2004-2007.
Irish documentation
Central Statistics Office, Census 2006: Principle Statistics. Dublin: Stationery Office.
Central Statistics Office, 2007. Ageing in Ireland 2007. Dublin: Stationery Office.
Department of Education and Science, 2000. Learning for Life: White Paper on Adult
Education. Dublin: Stationery Office.
Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, 2007. Delivering
Homes, Sustaining Communities. Dublin: Stationery Office.
Department of Health, 1988. The Years Ahead: A Policy for the Elderly. Dublin: Stationery
Office.
Department of Health and Children, 2001. Primary Care: A New Direction. Dublin:
Stationery Office.
Department of Health and Children and Health Service Executive, 2008. National
Strategy for Service User Involvment: Your Service, Your Say. Dublin: Stationery Office.
Department of Health and Children, 2008. Health in Ireland: Key Trends 2007. Dublin:
Stationery Office.
Department of Health and Children, 2008. Strategy to Prevent Falls and Fractures in
Ireland’s Ageing Population. Dublin: Stationery Office.
Department of Health and Children, 2008. SLAN 2007: Survey of Lifestyles, Attitudes and
Nutrition in Ireland – Main Report. Dublin: Stationery Office
Department of Health and Children, 2009. SLAN 2007: Survey of Lifestyles, Attitudes and
Nutrition in Ireland – Mental Health and Social Wellbeing Report. Dublin: Stationery Office
Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, 2007. National Women’s Strategy
2007 – 2016. Dublin: Stationery Office
Department of Social and Family Affairs, 2007. Green Paper on Pensions. Dublin:
Stationery Office.
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Department of the Taoiseach, 2006. Towards 2016: Ten-Year Framework Social Partnership
Agreement 2006-2015. Dublin: Stationery Office.
Department of the Taoiseach, 2007. New Programme for Government 2007. Dublin:
Stationery Office.
Department of the Taoiseach, 2007. National Development Plan 2007-2013:Transforming
Ireland – a Better Quality of Life for All. Dublin: Stationery Office.
Fahey T, Maitre B, Nolan B and Whelan CT (2007) A Social Portrait of Older People in
Ireland (report for Office of Social Inclusion). Dublin:ESRI
An Garda Siochana, 2008. A Time for Change - Policing Plan 2009. Dublin: An Garda
Siochana.
Health Service Executive, 2002. Protecting Our Future: Report of the Working Group on
Elder Abuse. Dublin: HSE.
Health Service Executive, 2005. Reach Out – a National Strategy for Action on Suicide
Prevention 2005-2014. Dublin: HSE.
Health Service Executive, 2006. Mental Health -A Vision for Change: Report of the Expert
Group on Mental Health Policy. Dublin: HSE.
Health Service Executive, 2009. Open Your Eyes: Elder Abuse Service Developments 2008.
Dublin: HSE.
National Council on Ageing and Older People and Health Promotion Unit,
Department of Health, 1998. Adding Years to Life and Life to Years: a Health Promotion
Strategy for Older People. Dublin: NCAOP.
National Council on Ageing and Older People, 2005. An Age Friendly Society: a Position
Statement. Dublin: NCAOP.
National Economic and Social Council , 2005. The Developmental Welfare State. Dublin:
NESC.
Nolan B and Maitre B, 2008. A Social Portrait of Communities in Ireland (report for Office
of Social Inclusion). Dublin: ESRI
Office for Social Inclusion DSFA, 2007 : National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 20072016 (NAPInclusion). Dublin: Stationery Office.
Road Safety Authority, 2007. Road Safety Strategy 2007-2012. Dublin: RSA.
Ruddle H., Donoghue F. and Mulvihill, R.,1997. The Years Ahead Report: a Review of the
Implementation of its Recommendations (NCAOP report no.48). Dublin: NCAOP.
Taskforce on Active Citizenship, 2007. Statistical Evidence on Active Citizenship in Ireland.
Dublin: Taskforce on Active Citizenship.
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Dún Laoghaire Rathdown documentation
Watters, N / Unique Perspectives, 2009. A Social Inclusion Profile of Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown. Dublin: Southside Partnership.
GAMMA, 2008. Dún Laoghaire Rathdown: Demographic and Socio-Economic Profile.
Report prepared for DLR County Development Board. Dublin: GAMMA.
Dύn Laoghaire-Rathdown County Development Board, An Integrated Strategy for Social,
Economic and Cultural Development 2002-2012. http://www.dlrcdb.ie/strategy.htm
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, 2003. County Development Plan 2004 – 2010,
http://www.dlrcoco.ie/planning/DevPlan04/index.html
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, 2009. Draft County Development Plan 2010 –
2016. http://www.dlrcoco.ie/planning/DevPlan2010_2016/index.html
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, 2009. Accessibility Implementation Plan 2009.
http://www.dlrcoco.ie/gp/Accessibility_Implementation_Plan_2009.pdf
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Co. Co. Arts Office, 2007 . DLR Arts Strategy 2007-2010
http://www.dlrcoco.ie/arts/strategy07/StrategyEng1.pdf
*
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APPENDIX 2: Extracts from relevant policy documents
1.1 United Nations Principles for Older Persons
The General Assembly:
Appreciating the contribution that older persons make to their societies,
Recognizing that, in the Charter of the United Nations, the peoples of the United
Nations declare, inter alia, their determination to reaffirm faith in fundamental
human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of
men and women and of nations large and small and to promote social progress and
better standards of life in larger freedom,
Noting the elaboration of those rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other declarations to ensure
the application of universal standards to particular groups,
In pursuance of the International Plan of Action on Ageing, adopted by the World
Assembly on Ageing and endorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution 37/51
of 3 December 1982,
Appreciating the tremendous diversity in the situation of older persons, not only
between countries but within countries and between individuals, which requires a
variety of policy responses,
Aware that in all countries, individuals are reaching an advanced age in greater
numbers and in better health than ever before,
Aware of the scientific research disproving many stereotypes about inevitable and
irreversible declines with age,
Convinced that in a world characterized by an increasing number and proportion of
older persons, opportunities must be provided for willing and capable older persons
to participate in and contribute to the ongoing activities of society,
Mindful that the strains on family life in both developed and developing countries
require support for those providing care to frail older persons,
Bearing in mind the standards already set by the International Plan of Action on
Ageing and the conventions, recommendations and resolutions of the International
Labour Organization, the World Health Organization and other United Nations
entities,
Encourages Governments to incorporate the following principles into their national
programmes whenever possible:
Independence
1. Older persons should have access to adequate food, water, shelter, clothing and
health care through the provision of income, family and community support and
self-help.
2. Older persons should have the opportunity to work or to have access to other
income-generating opportunities.
3. Older persons should be able to participate in determining when and at what
pace withdrawal from the labour force takes place.
4. Older persons should have access to appropriate educational and training
programmes.
5. Older persons should be able to live in environments that are safe and adaptable
to personal preferences and changing capacities.
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6. Older persons should be able to reside at home for as long as possible.
Participation
7. Older persons should remain integrated in society, participate actively in the
formulation and implementation of policies that directly affect their well-being and
share their knowledge and skills with younger generations.
8. Older persons should be able to seek and develop opportunities for service to the
community and to serve as volunteers in positions appropriate to their interests and
capabilities.
9. Older persons should be able to form movements or associations of older
persons.
Care
10. Older persons should benefit from family and community care and protection in
accordance with each society's system of cultural values.
11. Older persons should have access to health care to help them to maintain or
regain the optimum level of physical, mental and emotional well- being and to
prevent or delay the onset of illness.
12. Older persons should have access to social and legal services to enhance their
autonomy, protection and care.
13. Older persons should be able to utilize appropriate levels of institutional care
providing protection, rehabilitation and social and mental stimulation in a humane
and secure environment.
14. Older persons should be able to enjoy human rights and fundamental freedoms
when residing in any shelter, care or treatment facility, including full respect for
their dignity, beliefs, needs and privacy and for the right to make decisions about
their care and the quality of their lives.
Self-fulfillment
15. Older persons should be able to pursue opportunities for the full development of
their potential.
16. Older persons should have access to the educational, cultural, spiritual and
recreational resources of society.
Dignity
17. Older persons should be able to live in dignity and security and be free of
exploitation and physical or mental abuse.
18. Older persons should be treated fairly regardless of age, gender, racial or ethnic
background, disability or other status, and be valued independently of their
economic contribution.
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing/un_principles.html#Principles
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1.2 United Nations Madrid Declaration on Ageing
Report of the Second World Assembly on Ageing, Madrid, 8-12 April 2002
United Nations New York, 2002: Political Declaration
Article 1
We, the representatives of Governments meeting at the Second World Assembly on
Ageing in Madrid, have decided to adopt an International Plan of Action on Ageing,
2002 to respond to the opportunities and challenges of population ageing in the
twenty-first century and to promote the development of a society for all ages. In
the context of the Plan of Action, we are committed to actions at all levels,
including national and international levels, on three priority directions: older
persons and development; advancing health and well-being into old age; and
ensuring enabling and supportive environments.
Article 2
We celebrate rising life expectancy in many regions of the world as one of
humanity’s major achievements. We recognize that the world is experiencing an
unprecedented demographic transformation and that by 2050 the number of
persons aged 60 years and over will increase from 600 million to almost 2 billion
and that the proportion of persons aged 60 years and over is expected to double
from 10 to 21 per cent. The increase will be greatest and most rapid in developing
countries where the older population is expected to quadruple during the next 50
years. This demographic transformation challenges all our societies to promote
increased opportunities, in particular opportunities for older persons to realize their
potential to participate fully in all aspects of life.
Article 3
We reiterate the commitments made by our heads of State and Governments at
major United Nations conferences and summits, at their follow-up processes and in
the Millennium Declaration with respect to the promotion of international and
national environments that will foster a society for all ages. We furthermore
reaffirm the principles and recommendations for action of the International Plan of
Action on Ageing, endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1982, and
the United Nations Principles for Older Persons, adopted by the General Assembly in
1991, which provided guidance in areas of independence, participation, care, selffulfilment and dignity.
Article 4
We emphasize that, in order to complement national efforts to fully implement the
International Plan of Action on Ageing 2002, enhanced international cooperation is
essential. We therefore encourage the international community to further promote
cooperation among all actors involved.
Article 5
We reaffirm the commitment to spare no effort to promote democracy, strengthen
the rule of law and promote gender equality, as well as to promote and protect
human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development. We
commit ourselves to eliminating all forms of discrimination, including age
discrimination. We also recognize that persons, as they age, should enjoy a life of
fulfilment, health, security and active participation in the economic, social, cultural
and political life of their societies. We are determined to enhance the recognition of
the dignity of older persons and to eliminate all forms of neglect, abuse and
violence.
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Article 6
The modern world has unprecedented wealth and technological capacity and has
presented extraordinary opportunities: to empower men and women to reach old
age in better health and with more fully realized well-being; to seek the full
inclusion and participation of older persons in societies; to enable older persons to
contribute more effectively to their communities and to the development of their
societies; and to steadily improve care and support for older persons as they need
it. We recognize that concerted action is required to transform the opportunities
and the quality of life of men and women as they age and to ensure the
sustainability of their support systems, thus building the foundation for a society for
all ages. When ageing is embraced as an achievement, the reliance on human
skills, experiences and resources of the higher age groups is naturally recognized as
an asset in the growth of mature, fully integrated, humane societies.
Article 7
At the same time, considerable obstacles to further integration and full participation
in the global economy remain for developing countries, in particular the least
developed countries, as well as for some countries with economies in transition.
Unless the benefits of social and economic development are extended to all
countries, a growing number of people, particularly older persons in all countries
and even entire regions, will remain marginalized from the global economy. For this
reason, we recognize the importance of placing ageing in development agendas, as
well as in strategies for the eradication of poverty and in seeking to achieve full
participation in the global economy of all developing countries.
Article 8
We commit ourselves to the task of effectively incorporating ageing within social
and economic strategies, policies and action while recognizing that specific policies
will vary according to conditions within each country. We recognize the need to
mainstream a gender perspective into all policies and programmes to take account
of the needs and experiences of older women and men.
Article 9
We commit ourselves to protect and assist older persons in situations of armed
conflict and foreign occupation.
Article 10
The potential of older persons is a powerful basis for future development. This
enables society to rely increasingly on the skills, experience and wisdom of older
persons, not only to take the lead in their own betterment but also to participate
actively in that of society as a whole.
Article 11
We emphasize the importance of international research on ageing and agerelated
issues as an important instrument for the formulation of policies on ageing, based
on reliable and harmonized indicators developed by, inter alia, national and
international statistical organizations.
Article 12
The expectations of older persons and the economic needs of society demand that
older persons be able to participate in the economic, political, social and cultural life
of their societies. Older persons should have the opportunity to work for as long as
they wish and are able to, in satisfying and productive work, continuing to have
access to education and training programmes. The empowerment of older persons
and the promotion of their full participation are essential elements for active
ageing. For older persons, appropriate sustainable social support should be
provided.
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Article 13
We stress the primary responsibility of Governments in promoting, providing and
ensuring access to basic social services, bearing in mind specific needs of older
persons. To this end we need to work together with local authorities, civil society,
including non-governmental organizations, the private sector, volunteers and
voluntary organizations, older persons themselves and associations for and of older
persons, as well as families and communities.
Article 14
We recognize the need to achieve progressively the full realization of the right of
everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and
mental health. We reaffirm that the attainment of the highest possible level of
health is a most important worldwide social goal, the realization of which requires
action of many other social and economic sectors in addition to the health sector.
We commit ourselves to providing older persons with universal and equal access to
health care and services, including physical and mental health services, and we
recognize that the growing needs of an ageing population require additional
policies, in particular care and treatment, the promotion of healthy lifestyles and
supportive environments. We shall promote independence, accessibility and the
empowerment of older persons to participate fully in all aspects of society. We
recognize the contribution of older persons to development in their role as
caregivers.
Article 15
We recognize the important role played by families, volunteers, communities, older
persons organizations and other community-based organizations in providing
support and informal care to older persons in addition to services provided by
Governments.
Article 16
We recognize the need to strengthen solidarity among generations and
intergenerational partnerships, keeping in mind the particular needs of both older
and younger ones, and to encourage mutually responsive relationships between
generations.
Article 17
Governments have the primary responsibility for providing leadership on ageing
matters and on the implementation of the International Plan of Action on Ageing,
2002, but effective collaboration between national and local Governments,
international agencies, older persons themselves and their organizations, other
parts of civil society, including non-governmental organizations and the private
sector is essential. The implementation of the International Plan of Action on
Ageing, 2002 will require the partnership and involvement of many stakeholders:
professional organizations; corporations; workers and workers organizations;
cooperatives; research, academic and other educational and religious institutions;
and the media.
Article 18
We underline the important role of the United Nations system, including the
regional commissions, in assisting the Governments, at their request, in the
implementation, follow-up and national monitoring of the International Plan of
Action on Ageing, 2002, taking into account the differences in economic, social and
demographic conditions existing among countries and regions.
Article 19
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We invite all people in all countries from every sector of society, individually and
collectively, to join in our dedication to a shared vision of equality for persons of all
ages.
Adopted at the 10th plenary meeting of the Second World Assembly on Ageing, on
12 April 2002; Resolution 1
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing/madrid_resolutions.html
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1.3 WHO Checklist: Essential Features of Age-friendly
Cities
This checklist of essential age-friendly city features is based on the results of the
WHO Global Age-Friendly Cities project consultation in 33 cities in 22 countries. The
checklist is a tool for a city’s self-assessment and a map for charting progress. More
detailed checklists of age-friendly city features are to be found in the WHO Global
Age-Friendly Cities Guide.
This checklist is intended to be used by individuals and groups interested in making
their city more age-friendly. For the checklist to be effective, older people must be
involved as full partners. In assessing a city’s strengths and deficiencies, older
people will describe how the checklist of features matches their own experience of
the city’s positive characteristics and barriers. They should play a role in suggesting
changes and in implementing and monitoring improvements.
Outdoor spaces and buildings
☐ Public areas are clean and pleasant.
☐ Green spaces and outdoor seating are sufficient in number, well-maintained and
safe.
☐ Pavements are well-maintained, free of obstructions and reserved for
pedestrians.
☐ Pavements are non-slip, are wide enough for wheelchairs and have dropped
curbs to road level.
☐ Pedestrian crossings are sufficient innumber and safe for people with different
levels and types of disability, with nonslip markings, visual and audio cues and
adequate crossing times.
☐ Drivers give way to pedestrians at intersections and pedestrian crossings.
☐ Cycle paths are separate from pavements and other pedestrian walkways.
☐ Outdoor safety is promoted by good street lighting, police patrols and
community education.
☐ Services are situated together and are accessible.
☐ Special customer service arrangements are provided, such as separate queues
orservice counters for older people.
☐ Buildings are well-signed outside and inside, with sufficient seating and toilets,
accessible elevators, ramps, railings andstairs, and non-slip floors.
☐ Public toilets outdoors and indoors are sufficient in number, clean, wellmaintained and accessible.
Transportation
☐ Public transportation costs are consistent, clearly displayed and affordable.
☐ Public transportation is reliable and frequent, including at night and on weekends
and holidays.
☐ All city areas and services are accessible by public transport, with good
connections and well-marked routes and vehicles.
☐ Vehicles are clean, well-maintained, accessible, not overcrowded and have
priority seating that is respected.
☐ Specialized transportation is available for disabled people.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
☐ Drivers stop at designated stops and beside the curb to facilitate boarding and
wait for passengers to be seated before driving off .
☐ Transport stops and stations are conveniently located, accessible, safe, clean,
welllit and well-marked, with adequate seating and shelter.
☐ Complete and accessible information is provided to users about routes,
schedulesand special needs facilities.
☐ A voluntary transport service is available where public transportation is too
limited.
☐ Taxis are accessible and affordable, and drivers are courteous and helpful.
☐ Roads are well-maintained, with covered drains and good lighting.
☐ Traffic flow is well-regulated.
☐ Roadways are free of obstructions that block drivers’ vision.
☐ Traffic signs and intersections are visibleand well-placed.
☐ Driver education and refresher courses arepromoted for all drivers.
☐ Parking and drop-off areas are safe, sufficient in number and conveniently
located.
☐ Priority parking and drop-off spots for people with special needs are available
and respected.
Housing
☐ Sufficient, affordable housing is available in areas that are safe and close to
services and the rest of the community.
☐ Sufficient and affordable home maintenance and support services are available.
☐ Housing is well-constructed and provides safe and comfortable shelter from the
weather.
☐ Interior spaces and level surfaces allow freedom of movement in all rooms and
passageways.
☐ Home modification options and supplies are available and affordable, and
providers understand the needs of older people.
☐ Public and commercial rental housing is clean, well-maintained and safe.
☐ Sufficient and affordable housing for frail and disabled older people, with
appropriate services, is provided locally.
Social participation
☐ Venues for events and activities are convenientlylocated, accessible, well-lit
andeasily reached by public transport.
☐ Events are held at times convenient for older people.
☐ Activities and events can be attended alone or with a companion.
☐ Activities and attractions are affordable,with no hidden or additional participation
costs.
☐ Good information about activities andevents is provided, including details about
accessibility of facilities and transportation options for older people.
☐ A wide variety of activities is offered to appeal to a diverse population of older
people.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
☐ Gatherings including older people are held in various local community spots,
such as recreation centres, schools, libraries, community centres and parks.
☐ There is consistent outreach to include people at risk of social isolation.
Respect and social inclusion
☐ Older people are regularly consulted by public, voluntary and commercial
services on how to serve them better.
☐ Services and products to suit varying needs and preferences are provided by
public and commercial services.
☐ Service staff are courteous and helpful.
☐ Older people are visible in the media, and are depicted positively and without
stereotyping.
☐ Community-wide settings, activities and events attract all generations by
accommodating age-specific needs and preferences.
☐ Older people are specifically included icommunity activities for “families”.
☐ Schools provide opportunities to learn about ageing and older people, and
involve older people in school activities.
☐ Older people are recognized by the community for their past as well as their
present contributions.
☐ Older people who are less well-off have good access to public, voluntary and
privateservices.
Participation and employment
☐ A range of flexible options for older volunteers is available, with training,
recognition, guidance and compensation for personal costs.
☐ The qualities of older employees are well promoted.
☐ A range of flexible and appropriately paid opportunities for older people to work
is promoted.
☐ Discrimination on the basis of age alone is forbidden in the hiring, retention,
promotion and training of employees.
☐ Workplaces are adapted to meet the needs of disabled people.
☐ Self-employment options for older people are promoted and supported.
☐ Training in post-retirement options is provided for older workers.
☐ Decision-making bodies in public, privateand voluntary sectors encourage and
facilitate membership of older people.
Communication and information
☐ A basic, effective communication system reaches community residents of all
ages.
☐ Regular and widespread distribution of information is assured and a coordinated,
centralized access is provided.
☐ Regular information and broadcasts of interest to older people are offered.
☐ Oral communication accessible to older people is promoted.
☐ People at risk of social isolation get one-to-one information from trusted
individuals.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
☐ Public and commercial services provide friendly, person-to-person service
onrequest.
☐ Printed information – including official forms, television captions and text on
visual displays – has large lettering and the main ideas are shown by clear headings
and bold-face type.
☐ Print and spoken communication uses simple, familiar words in short,
straightforward sentences.
☐ Telephone answering services give instruction sslowly and clearly and tell callers
how to repeat the message at any time.
☐ Electronic equipment, such as mobile telephones, radios, televisions, and bank
and ticket machines, has large buttons and big lettering.
☐ There is wide public access to computers and the Internet, at no or minimal
charge, in public places such as government offices, community centres and
libraries.
Community and health services
☐ An adequate range of health and community support services is offered for
promoting, maintaining and restoring health.
☐ Home care services include health and personal care and housekeeping.
☐ Health and social services are conveniently located and accessible by all means
of transport.
☐ Residential care facilities and designated older people’s housing are located close
to services and the rest of the community.
☐ Health and community service facilities are safely constructed and fully
accessible.
☐ Clear and accessible information is provided about health and social services for
older people.
☐ Delivery of services is coordinated and administratively simple.
☐ All staff are respectful, helpful and trained to serve older people.
☐ Economic barriers impeding access to health and community support servicesare
minimized.
☐ Voluntary services by people of all ages are encouraged and supported.
☐ There are sufficient and accessible burial sites.
☐ Community emergency planning takesinto account the vulnerabilities and
capacities of older people.
WHO/FCH/ALC/2007.1© World Health Organization 2007. All rights reserved.
http://www.who.int/ageing/publications/Age_friendly_cities_checklist.pdf
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1.4 Towards 2016: Ten-Year Framework Social Partnership
Agreement 2006-2015 (extract)
The Partnership Agreement’s social policy commitments are founded on a new
‘lifecycle approach’, set out by the National Economic and Social Council in its
report, The Developmental Welfare State (2005), which ‘places the individual at the
centre of policy development and delivery’.
This model identifies four life stages: children; people of working age; older people;
and people with disabilities. For each stage the document outlines the vision agreed
by the Social Partners, the key long-term goals, and the priority actions for the
initial phase of the Agreement. It lists innovative measures intended to respond to
emerging needs, and also outlines a governance and monitoring framework.
Section 32- Older People:
32.1 Vision
The parties to this agreement share a vision of an Ireland which provides the
supports, where necessary, to enable older people to maintain their health and
well-being, as well as to live active and full lives, in an independent way in their
own homes and communities for as long as possible.
To achieve this vision, the Government and social partners will work together over
the next ten years towards the following long-term goals for older people in Ireland
in the context of increased longevity and greater possibilities and expectations for
quality of life of older people:

Every older person would be encouraged and supported to participate to the
greatest extent possible in social and civic life;

Every older person would have access to an income which is sufficient to
sustain an acceptable standard of living;

Every older person would have adequate support to enable them to remain
living independently in their own homes for as long as possible. This will
involve access to good quality services in the community, including: health,
education, transport, housing and security, and;

Every older person would, in conformity with their needs and conscious of
the high level of disability and disabling conditions amongst this group, have
access to a spectrum of care services stretching from support for self-care
through support for family and informal carers to formal care in the home,
the community or in residential settings. Such care services should ensure
the person has opportunities for civic and social engagement at community
level.
32.2 Priority Actions
Six priority action areas are identified as steps to achieving the long-term goals,
and indications of specific actions intended in each area are provided:
1. Pensions/ Income Supports
2. Long-Term Care Services for Older People
3. Housing and Accommodation
4. Ensuring Mobility for Older People
5. Ensuring Quality Health Services for Older People
6. Promoting Education and Employment Opportunities for Older People
http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/attached_files/Pdf%20files/Towards2016PartnershipAg
reement.pdf
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1.5 New Programme for Government 2007: a Blueprint for
Ireland’s Future 2007-2012 (extracts)
This is the operational plan which outlines how Government commitments in
relation to services and supports for older people will be put into practice over the
five-year period 2007-2012
Quoted below is the text of the whole section, Better Supports for Older People (pp
51-52), and relevant extracts from the following section on Social Welfare
improvements.
BETTER SUPPORTS FOR OLDER PEOPLE (p.51)
The Government’s commitment:
On top of the substantial changes outlined in the health section, we are determined
to take further significant initiatives to better recognise the position of older people
in Irish society.
Pensions
The Green Paper on Pensions represents a comprehensive examination of the
challenges and options facing Ireland in ensuring that all our people have adequate
pension coverage. With half of the working population not part of any personal or
occupational pension scheme and few having the security of defined benefit
schemes, it is vital that major steps are taken in the coming years to improve
pensions.
We will:
 Increase the basic State pension by around 50% to at least €300 per week
by 2012.

Seek to develop imaginative proposals in the context of the Green Paper
(the publication of which is a commitment under Towards 2016) and in
consultation with the social partners, to provide an SSIA type scheme in an
effort to make supplementary pension provision more attractive to those on
low incomes.

Aim to secure the target of at least 50% of pre-retirement earnings from all
sources including social welfare supports, private and occupational pensions,
and savings and investments.

Complete the scheme introduced in Budget 2007 to provide a personal
pension payment for pensioner spouses in receipt of the Qualified Adult
Allowance. The payment will be set at the level of a full rate NonContributory State Pension and the income limits will be improved to enable
more people to qualify for it. The role and economic contribution of spouses
working on the farm will be better recognised within the social insurance
system.

Extend the Age Allowance to Qualified Adults over 80 years old.

Remove anomalies identified in the pension system.

Ensure women are treated fairly in pension provision.
Improving Income and Employment Conditions
The Government is determined to improve the income and employment conditions
of older people. We appreciate that compulsory retirement does not adequately
reflect many people's abilities or expectations. Those reaching retirement age
should be allowed to retire if they wish, but those who would prefer to stay at work
should be facilitated in doing so.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
We will:
 Introduce phased retirement which allows workers a greater say in their
retirement age.

Increase the State Pension for every year that a person over 66 delays
taking it. Thus, additional PRSI contributions made after the age of 66 will
be added to the pension when it is drawn down.

Extend the amount those in receipt of the State Non-Contributory Pension
are allowed to earn without it affecting their pension entitlement.

Guard against age-related discrimination in the workplace.
National Strategy for Older People
In light of the growing involvement of many Departments and agencies in this area,
and of the successful model for developing policy relating to children and people
with disabilities, we will develop in conjunction with the recognised voluntary
groups in this area a New National Positive Ageing Strategy to include:

The development of operational plans by Government Departments clearly
setting out objectives relating to older people;

Joined up thinking on initiatives serving older people;

Ongoing mechanisms to monitor progress and identify challenges;

Liaison with recognised voluntary groups in the area;

Give consideration to the appointment of an Ombudsman for Older People.
We will also designate a Minister of State for Older People who will be a member of
the cabinet committee on social inclusion. In addition, the development of quality
transport systems in rural and urban areas and the expansion of the Rural
Transport Initiative will improve accessibility for older people.
Education and Retraining for Older People
We will:
 Set up a training programme on computer literacy for all those over 50 for
the teaching of (sic)

Support the extension of initiatives such as IT training in care settings,
senior cyber cafés, senior web sites and mature learner groups.

Enable more older people to go to College through the enhanced availability
of mature student places and the introduction of a new system of meanstested free fees for third level education.
Making It Easier for Older People to Stay in Their Own Homes
It is in everyone’s best interests that older people are supported and encouraged to
remain self reliant and to remain actively involved in their own well-being and that
of their families, friends and the wider community. Central to this is the provision of
support for older people to stay in their own homes for as long as possible.
We will:

Continue to provide support services for homecare.

Extend the Slán Abhaile programme. This programme provides older people
with practical alternatives to long stay residential care by providing
enhanced home support services.

Provide funding to local authorities for the provision of specialised housing
units for older people which is both affordable and appropriate to their
housing needs.
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
Facilitate the building of retirement villages and introduce on a pilot basis
integrated purpose-built neighbourhoods for older people in existing
communities, similar, for example, to the development of Westgate,
Ballincollig, Co.Cork.
SOCIAL AFFAIRS (p.52)
Welfare Reform
The Government will:

Integrate the tax and social welfare systems fully to allow for more efficient
data and money transfer mechanisms and provide for a fully integrated PPS
number.

Maintain the policy of phasing and using transition payments for those
coming off social welfare. Complete the scheme introduced in Budget 2007
to provide a personal pension payment for pensioner spouses in receipt of
the Qualified Adult Allowance. The payment will be set at the level of a full
rate Non-Contributory State Pension and the income limits will be improved
to enable more people to qualify for it.

Ensure that women are treated fairly in the Social Welfare code and examine
the proposals in the Green Paper on Pensions in this regard.

Better recognise within the social insurance system, the role and economic
contribution of spouses working on the farm.

Continue to maintain the value of the lowest rate of social welfare payments
as agreed in the National Action Plan on Social Inclusion.
Carers

In the next five years, the Government will:

Further increase eligibility for the Carers’ Allowance.

Double the non-means-tested Respite Care Grant to €3,000 per person
cared for.

Extend the National Fuel Allowance Scheme to cover eligible carers.

Ensure a National Carers’ Strategy focusing on supporting informal and
family carers in the community will be developed by the end of 2007. There
will be appropriate consultation with the social partners.
HEALTH (p.32)
Maximising Independence
We believe that all older people should have the opportunity to stay in their own
home for as long as possible. This is what our older people want and we will
support them in their choice. We will also support their family carers to continue
their caring role. We will help local and voluntary organisations to establish and run
community based facilities that will provide the care services necessary to support
older people.
We will strengthen and develop stroke rehabilitation services. We will introduce a
community led pilot scheme to counter the social isolation of the elderly in rural
Ireland.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Community and Continuing Care
Over the next five years, €2.1 billion will be invested in the Primary, Community
and
Continuing Care capital programme and we will:

Continue to implement measures to ensure the availability of real
alternatives to hospital for those who require lengthy convalescence.

Starting in 2008, increase funding to the NTPF on an annual basis over the
lifetime of the Government to secure long-term care, step down beds and
rehabilitation services for patients. This additional funding will be ring-fenced
for the above purposes and will be set at €20 million for the first year.
Nursing Homes
The demand for nursing home places will continue to increase and the public is
entitled to expect high quality and appropriate supports for all residents. We will
only fund places in nursing homes that meet the highest standards of nursing care
set by HIQA.
While our main focus will be on providing more and better home care services to
allow people to remain at home, we will provide for ten new 50-bed Community
Nursing Units in the next five years.
We will expand the system of inspection to ensure more comprehensive and regular
inspections. All inspection reports will be available to residents and their families
and published. We are committed to a standard framework for admission to and
payment for nursing home facilities. We will take the financial burden for the
residential care of their elderly parents from families.
We will implement the Fair Deal for nursing home care costs from the start of 2008.
http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/attached_files/Pdf%20files/Eng%20Prog%20for%20G
ov.pdf
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1.6 National Development Plan 2007-2013. Transforming
Ireland: a Better Quality of Life for All (extract)
The National Development Plan, the fourth since 1989, integrates strategic
development frameworks for regional development, for rural communities, for allisland cooperation and for the protection of the environment with common
economic and social goals.
EXTRACT from Older People Programme
Strategic Context
Older people are recognised as one of the main groups who may be at risk of social
exclusion. The Partnership Agreement, Towards 2016, sets out a vision of how
older people can maintain their health and well-being, as well as live active and full
lives, in an independent way in their own homes and communities for as long as
possible.
The support for this vision will not be restricted to measures contained in this
Programme. The Plan has a range of programmes and measures across a number
of Priorities that will support the vision for older people.
These include social housing, essential house repairs and improvements in primary
health care facilities which are detailed under the Social Infrastructure Chapter.
Other measures include the Rural Transport Initiative, education and training,
support through community organisations to improve the security of its older
members and activation and participation measures as outlined under the Human
Capital Chapter. Measures under the Local and Community Development
Programme under this Priority also complement the older persons programme.
(p. 255)
http://www.ndp.ie/documents/ndp2007-2013/NDP-2007-2013-English.pdf
1.7 Extract from An Garda Siochana – Policing Plan 2009
Strategic Goal Six – Community Engagement (p9)
Key Actions
This will be
Performance
Process Owner
Outcome
achieved by
Indicators
Engage with
Developing
Satisfaction
Assistant
A Garda
older people
effective and
levels of older
commissioner
service that is
innovative
people with
Strategy &
partnership
policing
Garda service
Training and
based and
approaches to
established
each Regional
community
oriented
enhance our
through joint
Assistant
engagement
survey with
Commissioner
with older
relevant partner
people in our
agencies
communities
http://www.garda.ie/Documents/User/Policing%20Plan%202009%20English.pdf
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APPENDIX 3: Age breakdown of DLR population from 55
years and upwards, 2006
Age
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
Totals
Age
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85+
Grand
totals
Males
Females
1180
1165
1097
1102
1144
1109
1012
1026
959
950
10,744
Persons
2230
2151
2120
2170
2150
2054
1922
1931
1815
1716
20,259
774
784
765
690
661
649
599
599
566
514
498
522
410
375
344
320
278
225
231
193
722
10,719
Females
897
881
889
880
818
786
763
727
716
717
660
695
603
585
558
498
471
445
386
371
1922
15,268
Persons
1671
1665
1654
1570
1479
1435
1362
1326
1282
1231
1158
1217
1013
960
902
818
749
670
617
564
2644
25,987
20,234
26,012
46,246
1050
986
1023
1068
1006
945
910
905
856
766
9,515
Males
Source: CSO, Census 2006:Small Area Population Statistics
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
APPENDIX 4: those consulted in the course of the research
Statutory providers with responsibilities within the County area:
Colm Coffey, Manager, Services for Older People, HSE (LHO 2, Dublin SE)
Eilis Hession, Manager, Services for Older People, HSE Dún Laoghaire
Margaret O’Donovan, Director of Community Nursing, HSE (LHO 2, Dublin SE)
David Lawless, RAPID Coordinator, County Development Board
Eugene Vesey, County Development Board/ County Council Dept of Community and
Enterprise
Sgt Angelene Conefry, Manager of Community Policing, Dún Laoghaire District (based in
Cabinteely)
Barbara Hammond, Community Education Facilitator, Dún Laoghaire VEC
Voluntary organisations:
Sheila Symonds, Director, Irish Association of Older People, a national organisation with
headquarters in Dún Laoghaire.
Susan Ross, of the Monkstown Parish St Vincent de Paul society
Network for Older People in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown:
Dan Hurst, Chairperson
Mags Kenny, DLR County Council staff member responsible for liaison with the Network
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
APPENDIX 5: outline of topics for consultations
A.
YOUR ORGANISATION OR AGENCY
1.
Its definition of ‘older people’
2.
Its role and remit in relation to older people
3.
The services and supports it provides to older people
4.
Aims of these services; achievements; challenges and gaps identified
5.
Ways of involving older people in decision-making and planning
B.
THE BROADER PICTURE (from your organisation’s perspective)
1.
Similarities and differences between the overall situation for older people here
in other parts of Dublin, or other parts of the country?
and
2.
What’s going well/ what are the successes in relation to provision (of all kinds)
older people in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown?
for
3.
What are the main challenges and gaps?
C.
INFORMATION NEEDS OF OLDER PEOPLE
Are older people’s information needs being adequately met at present?
(both generally, and regarding services your organisation provides)
D.
OLDER PEOPLE’S CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY
How do you see older people’s contributions (actual and potential) to their
neighbourhoods and to the wider community?
E.
DISADVANTAGED OLDER PEOPLE
1.
From your organisation’s viewpoint, which older people or older groups in the
County are most at risk of being marginalised or socially excluded?
2.
What new services or programmes are needed for them?
THANK YOU!
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
APPENDIX 6: Questionnaire for Older People’s Network
Survey of contributions and needs of older people in DLR
LOGO
for Network
LOGO
for Southside Partnership
Network for Older People
in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
Survey:
The Contributions and Needs of Older People in
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown
February 2009
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Information about the survey: questions & answers
Why is the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Network for Older People doing a
survey?
The Network Committee wants to identify the contributions and needs of older
people (everyone over 55) in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, and to bring important
issues and problems to the attention of local elected representatives, and others
who can change or improve things.
The Southside Partnership is supporting the Network’s initiative, and help has
also been received from the County Council and from Age and Opportunity.
How is the survey being organised?
Each group in the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Network has been invited to take
part, and to appoint a link person to come to a planning meeting in early
February. This person will be responsible for distributing a number of
questionnaires to group members, making sure they are returned to the Network
office. Independent researchers will analyse the information, and write a report
for the Network, presenting the main findings.
Is the survey confidential?
Yes, the information you provide will be completely anonymous and
confidential.
You are not asked to put your name or address on your questionnaire form, and
an envelope will be provided which you can seal with your completed form
inside.
What will happen to the information?
When the report of the findings of the survey is written, it will be presented to
Southside Partnership and the County Council, and used for lobbying local and
national representatives, as well as agencies and organisations that provide
services for older people. All the groups that participate will be informed of the
outcomes, so everyone will be able to see how useful their contribution has
been.
Why should I participate?
You are the expert on your own experience as an older person in the county, and
your views, based on that experience, are the most important part of the survey.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
How to complete the questionnaire
The most important thing!
This questionnaire is about your own experience as an older person living in the
County. So please base your answers on your personal experience and give the
Network your own individual views, rather than what you think other older
people might say.
How long will it take me?
The questionnaire should take about 20 minutes to complete.
What is the questionnaire about?
It is arranged in six main sections, covering topics the Network considers
important for the lives of older people in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown:
 Some information about yourself (but not your name or address)
 ‘Big issues’ for you as an older person in the county
 Your contribution to the local community, through membership of
groups and organisations, volunteering work, caring for others etc.
 Questions about your use of transport (what, where, how often…)
 Questions about security and safety
 Questions about health and health services
Important instructions and information:
1. Please answer all the questions, except those that don’t apply to you – for
example, Q.16 is only for those who answered ‘yes’ to Q.15, and Q.26 asks
people who are not happy with their transport options (Q.25) to explain why.
Those who are happy should skip this question.
2. Please read the instructions (which are highlighted in red) carefully. You may
be asked to tick one or more boxes or circle a number showing how you feel
about something. There are also some spaces in which you can provide
information and make a point in your own words.
3. Each group in the Network will decide themselves on the best way to organise
the filling out of the questionnaires they have been allocated.
Some people will be asked to take a questionnaire home to complete on their
own, others will fill them out during a group meeting (but in privacy). In some
cases, the link person for the survey will act as an impartial interviewer for
anyone who finds it difficult to fill out the form.
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
About you
1. Your age group
55 - 59
60 - 64
65 - 69
70 - 74
75 - 79
80 - 84
85 - 89
90 -94
95 + 
Tick one box only









2. Your gender
Male

Tick one box only

Female
3. In which area do you live?
Blackrock
Dún Laoghaire
Ballybrack

Tick one box only
 [ includes Blackrock, Deansgrange and Booterstown ]
 [ Dún Laoghaire, Dalkey, Sallynoggin, Monkstown,
Glenageary ]
 [ Ballybrack, Killiney, Loughlinstown, Shankill, Johnstown , ,
Kilternan, Carrickmines, Cabinteely, and Cornelscourt ]
Glencullen

Dundrum
 [ Dundrum, Rathfarnham and Goatstown ]
 [ Stillorgan, Churchtown, Milltown and Mount Merrion]
Stillorgan
[ Glencullen, Cruagh, Tibradden, Ticknock, Ballinteer,
Sandyford, Foxrock and Stepaside ]
Please check the map on page13 if your area is not listed here.
4. How old were you when you finished full-time education?
I was ……………………………years old
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
5. What kind of accommodation do you live in? Tick one box only
Owner-occupied house or apartment


Council rented house or apartment
Privately rented house or apartment




Residential care home
Hostel
Other accommodation
If you ticked ‘other’, please describe it ……………………………………………….
6. Which of these best describes your household? Tick one box only

I live alone
I live with my spouse (husband or wife) or partner only
I live with my spouse or partner & with one or more of our children
I live with one or more of my children only
I live in a group setting, such as residential care
Other type of household





If you ticked ‘other’, please describe it …………………………………………………
7. Which best describes your current occupation? Tick one box only





In paid full-time employment
Self-employed
In paid part-time employment, or ‘semi-retired’
Retired
Unemployed
Home duties
Other occupation


If you ticked ‘other’, please describe it ………………………………………………….
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
8. Do you use a computer (at home, at library etc) for internet access?
Yes


No
 
Tick one box only
The big issues
9.
Please complete each statement by choosing one box to tick
For me as an older person living in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown:
a. Health services (including access to services) are
A serious problem 
A minor problem  Not a problem at all 
b. Security at home is
A serious problem 
A minor problem  Not a problem at all 
c. Age-related discrimination against older people is
A serious problem 
A minor problem  Not a problem at all 
d. Safety on the streets is
A serious problem 
A minor problem  Not a problem at all 
e. Getting information on entitlements and services is
A serious problem 
A minor problem  Not a problem at all 
f. Transport is
A serious problem 
10.
11.
A minor problem  Not a problem at all 
If you could change one thing to improve your life as an older
person in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, what would it be?
Please write a short answer in the box below
Do you think that older people’s voices are being heard by
your local representatives (TDs and County Councillors)?
Yes
No I don’t know 
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Your contributions to the community
12.
Are you a member of a group for older people e.g. Active
Retirement, Senior Citizens’ group, ‘Old Folks’ group etc? (Tick one)
Yes
13.
Are you an active member of a club, society or group open
to all age groups, such as a sports, gardening, bridge or art club?
Yes
14.
No 
Do you have regular caring responsibilities for a family member,
friend or neighbour?
Yes
16.
No 
Do you volunteer your time to help in a charity, church
group, community organisation, sports organisation or similar?
Yes
15.
No 
No 
If you said ‘yes’ to Q.15, tick one box to indicate the time involved
It’s occasional  a few hours a week  a few hours each day  full-time
17.
Did you vote in the last national election?
Yes
No 
Transport
Yes
No 
18.
Is there a car in your household?
19.
Do you drive it yourself?
20.
Does any disability or health condition make travel difficult for you?
Yes
No 
Yes
No 
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
21.
What forms of transport do you normally use for local travel (in the
County and the Greater Dublin area)?
Tick ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for each item to show all the forms of transport you use
No 
a.
Car (yours or someone else’s) Yes
b.
Bus
Yes
No 
c.
Taxi
Yes
No 
d.
Minibus
Yes
No 
e.
DART
Yes
No 
f.
Luas
Yes
No 
g.
Bicycle
Yes
No 
h.
Other
Yes
No 
If you answered ‘yes’ to ‘other’, say what it is ……………………………
22.
Which one of these forms of transport do you use most often?
Choose one only from the list and circle it
Car / bus / taxi / minibus / DART / Luas / bicycle / other
23.
In your normal life, how often do you use transport (not cycling or
walking) for local travel?
Tick one box only

Most days of the week
Two or three days each week
Only about once a week
Occasionally
Not at all




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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
24.
For this question, please tick ‘yes’ or ‘no’ beside each item to show all
the purposes for which you need transport.
I normally use transport (not cycling or walking) to go to:
Shops
GP surgery
Hospital and specialist appointments Yes
Visiting and meeting friends and family
Other social and leisure activities
Adult education centres, other classes Yes
Church services
No 
Yes No 
No 
Yes No 
Yes No 
No 
Yes No 
Yes

25.
In general, how happy are you with the transport available to you
in your normal daily life?
To answer, circle a number from 1 to 5
1
(very unhappy)
2
3
4
(unhappy) (neither happy
(happy)
nor unhappy)
5
(very happy)
26. If you answered ‘1’ or ‘2’ to question 25, use this box to say briefly
why you are not happy. (If you answered 3, 4 or 5, skip this question)
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Security and safety
27. Please complete each statement by choosing one box to tick.
From my own experience, in my neighbourhood or local area:
a. Street lighting is A serious problem A minor problem  Not a problem at all
A serious problem A minor problem  Not a problem at all
b. Footpaths are
c. Pedestrian
crossings are
A serious problem  A minor problem  Not a problem at all
d. Vandalism is
A serious problem  A minor problem  Not a problem at all
e. Anti-social
behaviour is
A serious problem A minor problem  Not a problem at all 

f. Illegal drugs are

28.
A serious problem  A minor problem  Not a problem at all
In an average or normal week, how often do you meet and talk with
friends and/ or neighbours?
Tick one box only
Never  occasionally  once or twice  most days
29.
How happy are you with the level of Garda presence in your
neighbourhood?
Choose a number from 1 to 5 and circle it
1
(Very unhappy)
30.
 every day 
2
3
4
(unhappy) (neither happy (happy)
nor unhappy)
5
(very happy)
Do you think it is easy to obtain information about services and
equipment to make your home safe and secure?
Yes
No I don’t know 
Financial security and financial information
31.
At present, does your income meet your needs and enable you to
maintain an adequate standard of living?
Yes
No 
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
32.
Is information about your financial entitlements easy to obtain?
(e.g. pension payments, bus pass, fuel allowance etc.)
Yes
33.
No 
I don’t know

Is this information easy to understand?
Yes
No Not applicable 
Health and health services
34.
How do you assess your general state of health? Please circle one
Bad / poor / fair / good / excellent
35.
Do you have a physical or mental health problem or condition such
as poor eyesight or hearing that interferes with your daily life?
Yes
36.
How happy are you overall with the health and related social care
services you use in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown?
Circle one
1
(very unhappy)
37.
38.
No 
2
3
4
(unhappy) (neither happy
(happy)
nor unhappy)
5
(very happy)
If you answered ‘1’ or ‘2’ to Q. 36, use this box to explain briefly
why you are not happy. (If you chose 3, 4 or 5, skip this question)
Is it easy to obtain information about health and related social care
services which are available to you?
Yes
No Not applicable 
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
39. How happy are you with the overall quality of your local GP service?
Choose a number from 1 to 5 and circle it
1
(very unhappy)
2
3
4
(unhappy) (neither happy
(happy)
nor unhappy)
5
(very happy)
40.
If you answered ‘1’ or ‘2’ to Q. 39, use the box to briefly say why.
41.
Do you use the district nurse or community nursing services?
Yes
42.
No 
If you answered ‘yes’ to question 41, how happy are you with the
overall quality of the district/ community nursing service? Circle one
1
(very unhappy)
2
3
4
(unhappy) (neither happy
(happy)
nor unhappy)
5
(very happy)
43. If you answered ‘1’ or ‘2’ to Q 42, use this box to briefly say why.
Finally, if you want to say more about your experience and views as an older
person in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, please write it over the page!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!
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Older people in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown: profile and needs
Additional information
Map: electoral districts in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County
172