A US-based provider of home care services is to open ten offices in Ireland and create up to 1,000 part-time jobs.
Comfort Keepers Ireland is part of Elder Healthcare Group, which operates four nursing homes for the elderly, caring for over 200 people..
The new venture will enable care and companionship to be offered to older people in their own homes.
Speaking today, managing director Aus Power said: "By providing home care, Comfort Keepers allow older people to live independently in their own homes for longer. For too long residential care was considered the only alternative for those that required care, and now Comfort Keepers provides an affordable alternative."
The introduction of Comfort Keepers to the Irish market coincides with with the unveiling €150 million for new services for older people, focusing on improvements in home and community based support.
Minister for Health Mary Harney has described this package as 'the largest ever increase in funding for services for older people" The initiative reflects international trends and the growing independence of older people who want to continue to live at home.
Ireland has approximately 436,000 people over the age of 65, of which 44 per cent are over 75, many requiring some form of senior care.
The Irish National Counsel on Ageing and Older People predicts that by 2021, the percentage of people over 65 will grow to more than 15 per cent of the population.