Commissioner for Older People to Conclude Eight-Year Term

The Commissioner for Older People is stepping down after serving eight years in the position. On his final day in the role, Eddie Lynch urged Stormont to advance legislation addressing age discrimination, bringing it into line with the rest of the UK and Ireland. He also called upon the health minister to introduce a bill aimed at safeguarding vulnerable adults in care environments. Mr. Lynch assumed the post in 2016 and is only the second Commissioner for Older People for Northern Ireland since the office was established in 2011. Speaking on the BBC’s Good morning Ulster Programme, Mr. Lynch criticized the “slow pace of change” within Northern Irish politics. “It’s a great frustration of mine that we’re still sitting here in 2024, and Northern Ireland remains the only part of the UK or Ireland that doesn’t have age discrimination legislation in relation to goods facilities and services,” he stated. Mr. Lynch additionally called on the health minister to introduce the Adult Protection Bill “without any further hesitation.” This proposed legislation was a primary recommendation from a 2018 report investigating the treatment of residents at Dunmurry Manor Care Home. The inquiry into the Belfast care facility uncovered a “horrific catalogue of inhuman and degrading treatment.” The Adult Protection Bill is designed to update adult safeguarding regulations. Mr. Lynch remarked that one of his “great frustrations” was the “slow pace of change” in Northern Ireland. “It does take time to get policies brought in, to get practices changed, and certainly legislation introduced,” he commented. Reflecting on his tenure, Mr. Lynch identified the Covid-19 pandemic as the “greatest challenge that older people faced here in decades.” He noted that the pandemic “highlighted one of the needs for a commissioner” to ensure that older people had “somebody fighting on their behalf.” A successor for the Commissioner for Older People has not yet been announced. The Northern Ireland Executive Office holds the responsibility for this appointment. Mr. Lynch emphasized the importance of a prompt new appointment. He conveyed that older people “want to see a new person in place who can exercise all the legal powers of that office.”