How can I keep an eye on my elderly mum or dad who lives alone? Every option compared (Ireland, 2026)

There are at least ten ways to keep an eye on someone who lives alone, and each fails somewhere different. Here they are side by side, with Irish prices where published. We sell one option, SmartGuardian, and also fit smart speakers and video doorbells, so we have held our own products to the same standard.

Why is this such a common worry in Ireland?

At the 2022 census, more than a quarter of people aged 65 and over lived alone, rising to 44% of those over 85.¹ TILDA found that one in eight people aged 70 and over needed medical attention for a fall within a year.² The worry is the fall nobody knows about. A study of 110 people over 90 found call alarms widely available but unused in most falls that left someone on the floor for a long time, which was strongly linked to serious injury, hospital admission and moving into long-term care.³

How do the options compare?

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

What does each option involve?

Daily calls and a check-in routine

A call at the same time each day, or an agreed text once your parent is up, means a missed check-in is noticed within hours. Video calls show how they look as well as how they sound. The weakness is the gap between calls, so agree who rings the neighbour, and who has a key, when a check-in is missed.

Neighbours, community and ALONE

A neighbour with a key and your number is worth a lot. ALONE's trained, Garda-vetted volunteers visit or ring at least once a week, and its telephone befriending, which it describes as free, offers daily or weekly calls, including appointment reminders and medication prompts.^12,13,14 Referrals go through its National Support & Referral Line on 0818 222 024, 8am to 8pm, seven days a week.¹⁵ Volunteers are company, not carers.¹²

The Seniors Alert Scheme

If your parent qualifies, take it. According to Citizens Information and gov.ie, they must be 65 or over with limited means, and living alone, alone for long parts of the day, with another eligible person, or caring for someone at home.^4,5 Equipment, installation and the first year of monitoring are free; after that the fee varies by provider, at approximately €70 a year, and TASK, an Irish telecare provider, charges €66.^4,6 Pressing the button rings a 24-hour helpline, whose operator decides whether to alert a local responder or the emergency services.⁴ You apply through a local community group registered with Pobal. Our guide to the Seniors Alert Scheme explains how.

Private pendants and fall-detection watches

If your parent does not qualify, or walks out most days, TASK sells a GPS pendant for €130 and a 4G watch for €150, each with monitoring and a SIM at €18 a month, six months paid up front.^8,9 Both can raise the alarm on a fall by themselves, and TASK states that neither detects 100% of falls. The watch lasts up to 36 hours between charges and the pendant two to five days. Our comparison of personal alarms and AI fall detection goes further.

Smart speakers

A smart speaker lets your parent ring family by voice. With Alexa's Drop In, which both sides must allow, family can connect and the call starts automatically, with no need to answer.¹⁶ Saying "Alexa, call for help" tries to ring and text a chosen contact, but Amazon says Alexa calling cannot dial 999, the feature is no substitute for the emergency services, and it needs Wi-Fi.¹⁷ Agree Drop In with your parent first.

Video doorbells and indoor cameras

A video doorbell is a modest ask. It shows who is at the door, which helps with cold callers, and the Data Protection Commission advises recording only within your own property.¹⁸ Indoor cameras are a bigger ask, especially in the bathroom and bedroom. In a 2023 survey of 146 people, privacy needs were highest for showering and changing clothes, and acceptance of video lowest for intimate activities.¹⁹ If you go this way, agree it with your parent and keep it to shared rooms.

Non-wearable sensors and AI fall detection

This is the category we sell, so weigh this section accordingly. SmartGuardian, our system, turns each person into an anonymous stick figure on the sensor itself, and no video leaves the home.²² It detects falls automatically, including slow slides to the floor, with nothing worn or pressed, lets someone raise an arm to call for help, and tracks time in bed, hours of movement and night-time bathroom trips week to week.²² It costs €119 a month plus installation, €549 for the first room and €349 for each room after, with no minimum contract.^22,23

The limits: only rooms with a sensor are covered, and nothing outside the house. Alerts go to the family's phones: it does not call 999, nobody is employed to watch, and it needs a working internet connection.²⁴ It will not catch every fall.²⁴ And the sensor does have a lens, which some people will not want in a bedroom even though no video leaves the home.

Medication reminders and dispensers

TASK sells an automatic dispenser for €195: a locked tray of up to 28 doses that sounds an alarm when one is due, and can link to its monitored alarm so the centre knows when a dose is not taken out.¹¹ It cannot tell whether the tablet was swallowed. Ask the GP for a medication review too: TILDA found over half of older people attending an emergency department after a fall were on medicines known to raise falls risk.²

HSE home support and paid carers

The HSE Home Support Service helps with getting in and out of bed, washing and dressing. According to Citizens Information, it is free, not means tested, needs no medical card, and is for over-65s who need support to stay at home or come home from hospital. Funding is limited, and it cannot give 24-hour care.²⁰ Privately, Kare Plus Ireland, a home care provider, puts typical rates at €25 to €40 an hour.²¹ The nights still need a plan.

Telecare packages

Telecare adds sensors to a monitored alarm, all reporting to one 24-hour centre: TASK lists bed and chair sensors that alert when someone gets up and does not return, an inactivity sensor, a bathroom pull-cord, worn fall detectors and smoke detectors.¹⁰ Monitoring is €66 a year, plus €72 for a SIM where there is no landline, with extra devices monitored at no further charge. Sensors are bought separately.^6,7

Which combination suits which situation?

Independent, but had a near-miss

A daily check-in plus the Seniors Alert Scheme if they qualify, or a GPS pendant or watch if they go out. Ask the GP for a falls and medication review. If the near-miss was at night or in the bathroom, add something there that does not depend on a button.

Won't wear a pendant

Don't spend months arguing about it. A pendant in a drawer protects nobody. Use what asks nothing of them, such as telecare bed or inactivity sensors or non-wearable fall detection, plus a daily call. Our guide to alternatives when a parent won't wear an alarm goes further.

Early memory problems

Anything that relies on remembering works less well as memory changes, and in the study of people over 90, cognition was the one characteristic that predicted a long time on the floor.³ Favour room sensors or non-wearable detection, a dispenser linked to an alarm, ALONE's calls and an early HSE Home Support application. Discuss any camera while they can still weigh it up.

After a hospital stay

Apply for HSE Home Support before discharge; the discharge coordinator or social worker can help.²⁰ TASK says Seniors Alert alarms can be fast-tracked in emergency cases to three days once the supplier hears of the approval.⁶ Cover the nights too, with family staying over, a bed-exit sensor, or non-wearable detection, which we can fit within 48 hours if it is urgent.

What do families ask most?

What is the cheapest way to keep an eye on an elderly parent in Ireland?

A daily phone call costs nothing, and ALONE describes its telephone befriending as free. For over-65s with limited means, the Seniors Alert Scheme pays for a monitored pendant and installation, with monitoring free for a year and approximately €70 a year after.

Can Alexa call 999 in Ireland?

No. Amazon says Alexa calling does not support emergency numbers such as 999. Saying 'Alexa, call for help' tries to ring and text a contact you have chosen, which Amazon says is not a substitute for the emergency services.

Should I put a camera in my mum's house?

Only with her agreement, and think hard before a bedroom or bathroom. In a 2023 survey, privacy needs were highest for showering and changing clothes. A video doorbell is a smaller ask, and the Data Protection Commission advises recording only within your own property.

What can I do if my dad won't wear a pendant alarm?

Choose options that ask nothing of him: telecare sensors that alert a monitoring centre when he gets out of bed and does not come back, or non-wearable fall detection in the rooms that matter, plus a daily phone call.

Does SmartGuardian call an ambulance?

No. It sends an alert to the family's phones with a stick-figure animation of what happened. It does not call 999 or 112, and nobody is employed to watch, so agree in advance who goes to the house and who rings for help. It needs a working internet connection.

Does SmartGuardian use a camera?

The sensor has a lens, so it does see the room, but it turns each person into an anonymous stick figure on the sensor itself, and no video leaves the home. Family see a stick-figure animation, not footage. Some people still dislike any lens in a bedroom, and that is a fair objection.

Where do these facts come from?

1. Central Statistics Office. Census of Population 2022 Profile 3: Households, Families and Childcare, Key Findings, 31 August 2023. cso.ie
2. The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), Trinity College Dublin. New TILDA study shows one in eight older people in Ireland require medical attention for a fall each year, 2026. tilda.tcd.ie
3. Fleming J, Brayne C. Inability to get up after falling, subsequent time on floor, and summoning help: prospective cohort study in people over 90. BMJ, 2008;337:a2227. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2590903
4. Citizens Information. Seniors Alert Scheme, page edited 19 November 2024. citizensinformation.ie
5. Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht. Emergency Personal Alarm (Seniors Alert Scheme), last updated 10 December 2024. gov.ie
6. TASK Community Care. Seniors Alert Scheme (monitoring fee, fast-tracking, extra devices). taskltd.com
7. TASK Community Care. No landline alarm: GSM with SIM (monitoring and SIM fees). taskltd.com
8. TASK Community Care. 4G Personal Alert GPS Watch. taskltd.com
9. TASK Community Care. (PEP) Personal Emergency Pendant. taskltd.com
10. TASK Community Care. Telecare for Falls and Pendant Alarms (sensor types, base-unit range). taskltd.com/telecare-for-falls; taskltd.com/pendant-alarms
11. TASK Community Care. MedReady Automated Medication Dispenser. taskltd.com
12. ALONE. Types of Support. alone.ie
13. ALONE. Volunteers (Telephone Support and Befriending). alone.ie
14. ALONE. Older people in Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare need your support. alone.ie
15. ALONE. National Support & Referral Line. alone.ie
16. Amazon. What Is Alexa Drop In and How Does It Work? amazon.co.uk
17. Amazon. What Is an Alexa Emergency Contact? amazon.co.uk
18. Data Protection Commission. Guidance on the use of Domestic CCTV, last updated May 2026. dataprotection.ie
19. Maidhof C, Offermann J, Ziefle M. Eyes on privacy: acceptance of video-based AAL impacted by activities being filmed. Frontiers in Public Health, 2023. doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1186944
20. Citizens Information. Home Support Service, page edited 1 July 2026. citizensinformation.ie
21. Kare Plus Ireland. Homecare Costs in Ireland: How Much Should You Really Expect to Pay?, 16 April 2026. kareplus.ie
22. SmartCare Living. SmartGuardian. smartcareliving.ie/smartguardian
23. SmartCare Living. Services (SmartGuardian pricing; installation confirmed at a free home visit). smartcareliving.ie/services
24. SmartCare Living. Legal Notice (what SmartGuardian does not do). smartcareliving.ie/legal/disclaimer

Last updated: 1 October 2026. This guide is provided by SmartCare Living for general information. We sell and install SmartGuardian, and we also fit smart speakers and video doorbells; we have no commercial link with the other providers named. Prices and scheme details were checked against the sources above on 30 September 2026 and can change, so confirm them before you rely on them. SmartGuardian is a home monitoring aid and is not a registered medical device. It does not call the emergency services: in an emergency, call 999 or 112. This is not medical advice.