Local Structures

Each Local Authority Age Friendly Programme is coordinated by the Age Friendly Programme Manager who plays a fundamental role in the implementation of the age friendly programme across Ireland. They work with their local Alliance to develop and implement an Age Friendly Strategy and Action Plans.

The Programme Manager adopts initiatives that respond to priorities raised at local level and supports the scaling up and replication of good practices across all participating age friendly programme areas. They support the local Older People’s Council and are the primary contact for same. Technical guidance is given to Programme Managers on a day to day basis through the shared service programme office and onsite visits by the National Programme Manager to support specific objectives where required.

Across the network of 31 Age Friendly Programmes a strong cohesive network has developed underpinned by the role & functions of the Programme Managers. This network ensures that there is consistency in application and critical success factors are preserved in implementation.

There is an Age Friendly Housing Technical Advisor in every local authority providing specialist housing advice to members of the public and organisations.

A key principle underpinning the Government housing policy is to support older people to live in their own home with dignity and independence for as long as possible. The aim is to ensure that older people will have greater choice by developing a range of housing options that are suited to their needs, so they can plan ahead and, insofar as possible, choose the right home for themselves.

Each local authority has an assigned staff member as the local authority Age Friendly Housing Technical Advisor. They provide specialist advice to the authority itself, to private sector organisations interested in providing age friendly housing and to the general public.

There is a Healthy Age Friendly Homes Coordinator in every Local Authority in the country.

The local coordinators undertake home visits to older people living in the community and carry out assessments aligned to the four domains of housing, health, community/social supports and technology to assist ageing in place. The coordinators agree a personal plan with each individual older participant and support them to access a range of services which include housing adaptation grants, home energy improvements, health appointments, befriending or other community services, or technology supports. The programme collaborates with a broad spectrum of agencies and services, including personnel in local Government, health services, transport, community and voluntary groups, Gardaí, elected members and others.

The Inter-departmental team is made up of representatives from across each of the Local Authority departments, including Housing, Operations, Communications, Transport, Planning, Architects, Community and Economic Development. Working collaboratively to ensure that the age friendly agenda is incorporated into all local government work.