About the Commission on Care for Older People

The government is committed to supporting older people to live independently for as long as possible; to the provision of timely, high-quality, person-centred, integrated care in the most appropriate setting for all older people; and to supporting positive ageing. Acknowledging the disproportionately negative impact of the pandemic on older persons, the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future (2020) commits to the establishment of a ‘commission to examine care and supports for older people’.

On 3 October 2023 the government approved the proposal, brought forward by the Minister for Health and the Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, for the establishment of an independent Commission on Care for Older People, the inaugural meeting of which was convened on 21 March 2024.

The Commission is chaired by Professor Alan Barrett (Chief Executive Officer, Economic and Social Research Institute) and is comprised of independent experts. Collectively, the members of the Commission provide expertise across the areas of geriatrics, gerontology, health economics, health policy and management, primary care, health ethics, health technologies, and ageing and disability, as well as representation of the community and voluntary sector and of older people. The Commission is supported by a secretariat from the Department of Health.

The Commission is charged with examining the health and social care services and supports provided to older people across the continuum of care and with making recommendations for their strategic development. Subsequently, a cross-departmental group will be established under the auspices of the Commission to consider whether the supports for positive ageing across the life course are fit-for-purpose and to develop a costed implementation plan for options to optimise these supports.

The Terms of Reference for the Commission on Care for Older People are available below:

Principles and procedures

Meeting agendas

Minutes of meetings

The work of the Commission will be advanced through three discrete modules, which will run consecutively.

In Module 1 the Commission is charged with determining the effectiveness, adequacy and efficiency of the care and supports which are currently provided within the health and social care system, including the plans for their further development, in meeting the evolving care needs of the increasing diversity of older people within the context of the ageing population. The Commission will prepare for the consideration of the Minister for Health and Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People a report detailing the Commission’s work in respect of Module 1 including any learnings for inclusion in Module 2.

In Module 2 the Commission will examine the broader policy options for older people’s care, as determined in Module 1, and will develop a costed and detailed implementation plan for the selected options. At the conclusion of Module 2, the Commission will prepare for the consideration of the Minister for Health and Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People a report detailing the challenges and opportunities identified, and presenting a framework for the overarching strategic development of health and social care services and supports for older people that advances national strategic objectives.

In Module 3 a cross-departmental group will be established under the auspices of the Commission to consider whether the mainstreaming of ageing across Government and civil society is effective in supporting citizens’ healthy, positive, and autonomous ageing across the life course and to prepare for the consideration of the Minister for Health and Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People a costed and detailed implementation plan for the selected options to enable positive ageing in Irish society.

Principles and procedures