Irish Examiner view: Inadequate care for older people cannot continue

The ESRI estimates that we need an additional 1,000 long-term residential care beds into the system every year until 2040

If a nursing home becomes part of a family conversation in relation to a loved one, it is often when it has become absolutely necessary and nothing else will work. So the shortage of nursing home places has the potential to cause quite significant trauma for many families and individuals choosing this option. File picture 

To judge a society by how the elderly are cared for, one would have to say the report card for Ireland today is worrying.

Demographics don’t suddenly jump up and surprise us on a given day. We know we have an ageing population, and this has been the clearly forming picture for a long time.