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Minister for Mental Health and Older People Jim Daly today (Thursday) spoke at the National Convention of Older Person’s Councils.

Older Person’s Councils are representative groups of older people established by local authorities as part of the development of the Age Friendly City/County programme. These Older Person’s Councils identify priority areas of need, raise issues of importance and influence the decision making process of the Age Friendly initiative.

Speaking at the event, Minister Daly said

While an ageing population brings some challenges, I feel strongly that this also presents us with opportunities to bring about improvements in society to facilitate and accommodate our changing needs. It is extremely important that we recognise the importance of the decisions that are being made at a local authority level to make this happen, and I want to thank all the people who have made the time and effort to contribute to the Councils.

Ireland's Age Friendly Cities & Countries Programme has made considerable progress and provides fantastic opportunities to transform communities and make them as age friendly as possible.

Notes to the Editor

The Department of Health's National Positive Ageing Strategy sets out a vision for an age-friendly society through the achievement of four national goals (participation, health, security and research).

It recognises that all sectors of society – government, businesses, voluntary groups, service providers, local authorities and the general public – have a part to play in creating an age-friendly society.

The Strategy allocates lead responsibility for its Priority Action Areas to various Government Departments and agencies.

It also sets out the need for local joint working structures to complement this national-level activity, since many of the factors that contribute to a good quality of life for older people are community-based