Fingal County Council welcomes launch of Age Friendly Housing Technical Advisor initiative

Fingal County Council welcomes the launch of Age Friendly Housing Technical Advisor positions in each of Ireland’s 31 local authorities.

A member of staff with appropriate technical expertise has undergone training with Age Friendly Ireland to enable them to provide specialist advice to Fingal County Council, to private sector interests who want to get involved in providing age-friendly housing, and to members of the public.

The initiative reflects the ambition to enable everyone, of all ages, to live longer healthier lives in their own homes and communities, empowering older people with greater choice by developing a range of housing options suited to their needs.

This is in line with the Department of Housing and Department of Health’s joint policy statement Housing Options for Our Ageing Population and the vision of an Age Friendly Ireland expressed in the July 2020 Programme for Government.

Mayor of Fingal Cllr David Healy said: “I welcome the launch of the Age Friendly Housing Technical Advisor role, and thank Age Friendly Ireland and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for their support in the initiative.

“Our communities are enriched by the character, experience and engagement of people of all ages, and the establishment of the Age Friendly Housing Technical Advisor position will help us to deliver more positive, sustainable housing outcomes for older people.”

Chief Executive of Fingal County Council AnnMarie Farrelly said: “The launch of the Age Friendly Housing Technical Advisor will support Fingal and other local authorities in addressing Age Friendly housing needs across the community.

“Fingal is a diverse community in terms of age as in many other respects, so the Advisor will have a valuable role in the delivery of housing that is responsive and appropriate to Fingal’s population.”

Minister of State for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage Peter Burke TD said: “The specific Action which brings us here today is Action 4.13, which introduced a novel idea that local authorities should appoint a member of staff as a technical advisor on age friendly housing with the intent that this person would be a resource for older people, for the local authorities, and indeed for anyone who wants to access information about age friendly housing.

“In late 2019, my Department wrote to the Chief Executives of local authorities asking them to do this, and in the wholehearted way in which they have embraced other elements of the Age Friendly Ireland programme they all agreed to do so.”

Jackie Maguire, Chief Executive of Meath County Council, host to the Age Friendly Ireland Shared Service said: “Today’s launch is a significant occasion, representing another substantial development in the joint departmental housing policy and also acknowledging the sterling work of local authorities, both Departments, the Age Friendly shared service and partner organisations on the Implementation Group.”