Introduction to the Age Friendly Technical Housing Specialist in Roscommon County Council

 The Age Friendly Housing Technical Specialist in Roscommon County Council is:

This assigned role will work collaboratively with our existing Age Friendly Programme Manager Role – Amanda Scanlon

A New Service | What is the Age Friendly Housing Technical Specialist

A member of staff at the appropriate technical level of expertise has been assigned as our local authority’s Age Friendly Housing Technical Specialist. This will ensure that our local authority can provide technical advice to the 

• Our own local authority staff and members
• Private sector developers who have an interest in providing age-friendly housing  
• Approved Housing Bodies who have an interest in providing housing for older people
• Individuals from the public who may need advice on right sizing or adapting their own dwellings with age friendly universal design principles 

The Age Friendly Housing Technical Specialist will :

• Act as the key point of contact for matters relating to age friendly housing technical queries specifically around designing for life and universal design principles
• Respond to and progress referrals and queries from a range of sectors including in house staff (particularly across Planning & Housing), external stakeholders & agencies, private sector developers, Approved Housing Bodies and individuals           
• Provide clients with information on key contacts within your organisation to discuss issues and solutions around age friendly housing and public realm works
• Refer to models of good practice in other areas and share universal design guidelines, technical plans and development specification to inform design
• Provide contacts, as appropriate, of people outside the organisation who might be able to provide further technical guidance and assistance particularly in relation to universal design principles and crime prevention through environmental design principles 
• Work closely with our existing local Age-Friendly Programme Managers and the national Age Friendly Ireland shared service team in relation to strategy implementation and translation of policy objectives at local level
• Record progress and monitoring referrals, developments, adoption of principles and outcomes to inform the national report from Age Friendly Ireland to the Department of Housing Planning & Local Government under the National Implementation Group.

Background | Age Friendly Ireland | Shared Service function of Local Government

Age Friendly Ireland is a shared service function of local government hosted by Meath County Council. It operates through a national network of 31 Age Friendly Programmes across all local authority areas. Age Friendly Ireland co-ordinates, supports and provides technical guidance to the 31 local authority led, multiagency Age Friendly City and County Programmes.  

The Age Friendly Programme involves a multi-agency, multi sectoral approach to age related planning and service provision. The programme helps cities, counties and communities to be more inclusive of older people by addressing their expressed concerns and introducing practical responses aimed at improving the quality of life of all citizens.  

In each local authority area, an Age Friendly Alliance is established, involving senior decision-makers from public (Local Authority, HSE, An Garda Síochána, etc.), commercial and not-for-profit organisations. Through the establishment of an Older People’s Council in each participating local authority area older people exercise a strong, guiding influence on age-friendly local development.  Age Friendly Alliances plan and implement strategies and oversee progress in each county. Many thousands of practical steps have been taken at local level under the guidance of these Alliances.

Contact Details for Age Friendly Ireland

Age Friendly Ireland Shared Service |Meath County Council

Tel: 046 9097000 or Direct Dial 046-9097413 | Email: agefriendlyireland@meathcoco.ie 

Web: www.agefriendlyireland.ie |  Twitter: @AgeFriendlyIrl