ESRI predicts health spending will rise due to growing and ageing population

Increased demand for non-hospital care and price hikes for high-tech medicines are among the factors expected to push up costs

The ESRI expects that there will be a need for up to 10 per cent more spending, equivalent to about €3 billion, in 2035 for home supports. Picture: Getty

Health spending will have to increase substantially due to Ireland’s growing population and the rising cost of health treatment, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has said.

The think tank predicted that labour costs associated with providing care in community and residential care settings will rise “substantially” by 2035.

The largest price increase, meanwhile, will be in high-tech medicines, such as anti-rejection drugs for transplant recipients and medicines used in conjunction with chemotherapy, the ...