Ministers Damien English and Jim Daly launch policy statement “Housing Options for our Ageing Population”
From Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
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From Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Published on
Last updated on
Increased Options and More Choice for People as they Age
Mr Damien English TD, Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal together with Mr Jim Daly TD, Minister for Mental Health and Older People today (27 February 2019) launched the Joint Policy Statement “Housing Options for our Ageing Population”
The Statement reaffirms the strong Government commitment to policies that support older people to live in their own homes and communities with dignity and independence for as long as possible.
Minister English welcomed the publication and stated his belief that the Statement “would make an invaluable contribution in helping to meet the demographic challenge we as a nation face in respect of the housing needs for our increasingly older population”.
The Minister was keen to emphasise that the Policy Statement was about increasing the options available to people as they grow older. It was he continued “fundamentally about creating more choice in the housing options available to them and recognising the intimate connection between healthcare supports and housing as we age”.
Continuing on this theme Minister Daly noted that “This is not about imposing solutions on anyone. We have asked and listened to what older people want through an extensive consultation process. This document is the two Department’s response to what we have heard”
The Statement sets out a framework by which the Government aims to create a much wider spectrum of options and choices for older people in Ireland. The over-arching aim being to ensure that people can grow old and live in a community of their choosing, with dignity and independence.
The Steering Group that helped put the Statement together- made up of key stakeholders in Government and from across the sector- has developed a number of key principles that will underpin Government policy on housing for older people and on which the policy framework was constructed. These include:
“These principles will inform our strategic thinking in the years ahead. However, I am pleased to say that they have already led to the development of a number of creative and innovative actions that are in this Statement” noted Minister English.
There are 40 Action points in the Plan. Key initiatives include:
Minister Daly concluded “The publication of this Statement is just the start. We plan to build on the excellent collaboration between the two Departments and key stakeholders and ensure that we deliver on the promises we are making here today”. To that end both Ministers committed to establishing within weeks an Interdepartmental/agency Implementation Group led by an independent chair that would monitor progress and report directly to both Ministers.
Download the policy statement here.