Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 April 2023
613. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health the funding allocated to the National Positive Ageing Strategy from 2016 to 2023, inclusive; if he will outline the targets that have completed, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19488/23]
View answerWith the aim of supporting healthy, active, and autonomous ageing throughout the life course, the National Positive Ageing Strategy (2013) provides a framework for whole-of-government policy making and service delivery in partnership with the community and voluntary sector. Envisioning a society in which the equality, independence, participation, care, self-fulfilment, and dignity of older persons are pursued at all times, the Strategy aims to address the range of social, economic, and environmental factors that affect all citizens as they age.
The cost neutral National Positive Ageing Strategy does not contain specific actions. Rather it is a high-level strategic document that outlines a number of national goals, objectives, and action areas to provide direction in relation to the issues that need to be addressed to promote positive ageing. In 2016 arrangements to implement and monitor the implementation of the Strategy were approved by the Cabinet Committee on Social Policy and Public Service Reform. The Healthy and Positive Ageing Initiative (HaPAI)—a joint initiative between the Department of Health, the HSE Health and Well-being programme, and Atlantic Philanthropies—was established to implement the research objectives of the Strategy and develop the evidence-base for monitoring its implementation. The 2018 Positive Ageing Indicators Report is available at www.gov.ie/en/publication/0e84e9-positive-ageing-indicators-2018/.
More recently, the development of the cross-government Well-being Framework for Ireland and the roll-out of the Health System Performance Assessment (HSPA) Framework have significantly enhanced the evidence-base for the evaluation of the impact of Government policy on all age cohorts. These frameworks complement the rich seam of longitudinal data on older persons generated through the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) as well as the data on health of the general population collected annually through the Healthy Ireland Survey.
