National Youth Work Development Plan 2003-2007

Irish society today is dramatically different from the one in which youth work services were first provided on a spontaneous and philanthropic basis more than one hundred years ago. At no time has the process of change been more striking than in the last ten to fifteen years. At least four major types of recent change, all clearly interrelated, can be identified: economic, political, technological and cultural. A further important aspect of cultural change in Ireland has been the continuing trend towards urbanisation, and the corresponding impact, largely negative, on rural communities. Particularly significant in the context of a Development Plan for Youth Work is the migration of young people away from rural areas to study or work, with most of them unlikely to return on a permanent basis. This, along with the rapid reduction in farm holdings and other changes in the countryside, has profound sociological and psychological repercussions for rural Ireland and indeed for Irish society as a whole. For young people living in rural areas the challenge is to provide youth work opportunities which are specially tailored to their needs and which take account of the ways in which their circumstances (e.g. regarding transport and access) are different from those of their urban peers

National Fraud Initiative

The Public Health Agency (PHA) is required by law to protect the public funds it administers. This A4 sheet provides information on the National Fraud Initiative.

Report of the Consultation for a National Rare Disease Plan for Ireland

This IPH report (2013) (prepared for the ROI Department of Health) presents findings from the National Consultation on Rare Disease overseen by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland on behalf of the Department of Health to inform the development of Ireland’s first National Rare Disease Plan. In 2009, the Council of the European Union recommended that all member countries develop a national plan for rare diseases with the framework of their health and social systems by the end of 2013. The aim is to ensure that all patients with rare disease in Europe have access to high quality care, including diagnostics, treatments and rehabilitation.