I am happy to announce today the formal establishment of two offices - an Office for Older People and an Office for Disability & Mental Health.
I have already designated a Minister of State for each of these priority areas to bring a greater cohesion across a number of Government Departments.
Máire Hoctor T.D. has responsibility for Older People, and Doctor Jimmy Devins T.D. has responsibility for Disability and Mental Health. Both are also members of the Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion.
The arrangements for these two new offices will be similar, although not identical, to the Office of the Minister for Children, which is widely accepted as having put the needs of children and young people high on everyone’s agenda.
This cross-departmental approach is the main reason why we adopted a lifecycle approach in Towards 2016 – the current Social Partnership Agreement. The idea is to place the needs of the citizen, at each stage of their life, as the centrepiece of social policy.
Older People
If I can focus on older people specifically for a moment.
We know that 11% of people living in Ireland are over 65. We estimate that this will rise to 20% by 2036, and 29% by 2056. This presents Ireland with both great challenges and great opportunities
The Vision for Older People, set out in Towards 2016, is to enable older people to maintain their health and well being, as well as to live active and full lives, in an independent way in their own homes and communities for a long as possible.
We have identified specific initiatives to make this happen, for example in the key areas of pensions and income supports, long term care services, housing, mobility, health services and promoting education and employment opportunities.
We have also specifically highlighted Older People as a priority in the National Development Plan 2007-2013 with additional provision of €9.7 billion non-capital funding for the Older People Programme.
A key role of Minister Hoctor, and her new Office, will be to develop a National Strategy on Positive Ageing. This is a commitment in our Programme for Government and will include the development of operational plans by Government Departments setting out objectives relating to older people.
This type of co-ordinated approach to public services is not a new, or an easy, challenge. However, I believe this new Office, under Minister Hoctor’s leadership, can help us focus attention not on organisational boundaries, but on the needs of older people in Ireland today.
Disability & Mental Health
I would also like to say a few words about the new Office for Disability and Mental Health, which will be led by Minister Devins.
The Office will focus on supporting the implementation of the Health Sectoral Plan under the Disability Act. In particular, it will facilitate the delivery of integrated health and education support services for children with special needs. The Office will also support the development of training and employment support services for people with a disability
In relation to Mental Health, it will drive implementation of the recommendations in A Vision for Change and Reach Out. It will also develop closer co-operation between the Health and Justice sectors on cross-cutting issues relating, for example, to the Criminal Law Insanity Act and the Central Mental Hospital.
Minister Devins will of course also have responsibility for the oversight of the Government’s National Disability Strategy, including the six Departmental Sectoral Plans.
The National Disability Strategy has made good progress so far, and has involved substantial extra investment and effort across a range of services. The key challenge now is to maintain this momentum and ensure that all parts of the public service continue to work together effectively to improve the lives of people with a disability.
Conclusion
In conclusion, today’s announcement is another step towards a better, more co-ordinated, service to the citizen.
It is an innovative approach, building on the model of the Office of the Minister for Children and the lifecycle approach in Towards 2016. In this way, we are seeking to support, and reward, co-ordination across different Departments.
Its success will depend on a great deal of effort and support from all the relevant Departments, but the Government is committed to making this new model work and will be strongly supporting the new Offices as they press ahead with their work programmes.
I would like to finish by wishing Minister Hoctor and Minister Devins, and the Directors and staff of both Offices, every success with the very important tasks which lie ahead and assure them of my support, and that of the Government, for this new approach to integrated public services.
Thank You.
ENDS