National Positive Ageing Strategy

A series of meetings are currently being held throughout the country as part of Minster Aine O’Brady’s work to develop the National Positive Ageing Strategy.
These meetings will join organisations, agencies and individuals representing older citizens in talks for the first time with the Government. These groups will have the opportunity to discuss future government policy relating to our aging population in the aim of tackling ageism and boosting social inclusion.
At first of these meetings which has already taken place in Cork on the 4th of March, Minister O’Brady spoke about viewing an ageing population in a positive way and opportunities and challenges it offers; "The expected increase in the numbers of older people in the population in the years ahead will present great opportunities for Irish society .There will be more older people in Ireland in the future and we must take a much more positive view and grasp the many opportunities that the increase in the numbers of people aged 65 and over will present to us as a society".
The minister added that she her call for submissions from the participating groups had been very successful, with 168 submissions being received so far. The minister also highlighted her desire to hear directly from Older people themselves, to discuss the issues that they are affected by on a day to day basis.
Minister O’Brady outlined both her aims and targets for the meetings and strategy: "We want to have the best possible arrangements in place for older people. The challenge is to find ways of organising and delivering programmes and services that make them more accessible to people. But I also believe that attitudes towards older people and perceptions of ageing are also of importance. Ageism is an issue for all older people and we must work to tackle ageism as a priority."
The meetings will be taking p lace throughout Ireland in March and April, with other venues including Sligo, Limerick, Galway, Kildare, Louth and Wexford. For more information about the above locations visit the Department of Health and Children website: http://www.dohc.ie/ .