COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, December 08, 2025
MOTION NO. 2
MOTION: Councillor N. Whelan
This Council agrees that all new age friendly developments should have a defibrillator installed upon completion, and training made available to it's residents.
REPORT:
Defibrillators have been installed by SDCC in County Hall, Tallaght in the Clondalkin Civic Offices and at Public Libraries. Further defibrillators are provided throughout the County by a wide variety of groups and organisations including community groups, sports clubs, shopping centres, individual pharmacies and private commercial companies. The installation, upkeep and maintenance of defibrillators is the responsibility of the relevant committee, management or company.
There are no plans to install defibrillators at our age friendly housing developments, instead our strategic focus is on providing comprehensive and targeted safety and security supports, which are paramount to enabling older residents to maintain independent living within the County. Our approach is built upon a foundation of personalised assessment and effective partnership delivery across key areas:
1. Personalised needs assessment and co-ordination
Our Local Healthy Age Friendly Homes Co-ordinators conduct personalised home visits to residents. These assessments are crucial for accurately identifying the essential safety and security supports required to sustain long-term independence in the home environment.
2. Targeted alarm and safety provision
Age friendly co-ordinators manage the referral process for critical personal and home safety alarms through established, effective routes. Pendant and personal safety alarm referrals are facilitated via two primary mechanisms:
- Trustus for the provision of the state-funded Pobal pendant alarms
- Referrals for advanced GPS-tracked personal alarms provided by private companies (note: these specific advanced alarms are not state-funded)
3. Digital inclusion and assistive technology development
Age Friendly co-ordinators provide dedicated support to encourage residents to access and effectively utilise "Acorn tablets" through their local library. This initiative actively promotes digital literacy and inclusion among older residents. The Community Department is scheduled to launch a key pilot project in Q1 2026. This initiative will provide basic assistive technology equipment to a cohort of older residents and track its effectiveness over a twelve-month period to inform future policy and wider roll-out.
The council is committed to supporting a robust system of in-home safety, security and technology measures to ensure the continued well-being, dignity and independence of all members within our Age-Friendly community.