CAWT Partnership elect new Director General

Following Tom Daly’s retirement from the HSE and stepping down as Director General of the CAWT Partnership in July 2017, Damien McCallion, National Director Emergency Management and National Ambulance Service, has been elected to the role of Director General for the CAWT Partnership. Damien has served as a CAWT Board Member for over 3 years.

In looking to the future it is important to acknowledge some of the key achievements during Tom’s tenure with CAWT. Indeed, Tom was actively involved in the establishment and growth of the CAWT Partnership since its inception in 1992. For example, over the last 13 years there have been two significant INTERREG funding programmes (IIIA and IVA) which ran consecutively. Both programmes included a cross border health theme and significantly improved access to health and social care for our border populations. For example, in the 2003 to 2008 period of the INTERREG IIIA programme, a total of €10.45 million was invested in cross border health via CAWT. In the 2009 to 2015 period of the INTERREG IVA programme, €30 million has been allocated to the CAWT Partnership for cross border health and social care initiatives.

New INTERREG funding

This year (2017) the CAWT Partnership celebrates 25 years in existence and has been awarded a grant up to a total value of €26.5 million of EU INTERREG VA funding which will be used to support four large-scale cross border health and social care projects up to 2021. The projects are in the areas of acute hospital services, mental health, children’s services and community health and well-being.  A fifth project is being led by NHS Scotland and is in the area of primary care and older people’s services. The CAWT Partnership is an active participant in this Scottish led Project which has secured grant funding of up to €5.5 million. These projects will directly benefit people living in Northern Ireland and the border counties of the Republic of Ireland and will be implemented between now and 2021.

Key aspects of the CAWT Partnership Director General (DG) Role

The DG is appointed by the CAWT partner organisations to directly manage the work of the CAWT Partnership on behalf of all the partners and he/she works closely with the CAWT Chief Officer and Development Centre. This role has specific responsibilities including:

  • Determining the overall direction of CAWT and liaising as required with relevant Government Departments and Agencies
  • Ensuring probity and efficiency of governance and enabling members to make an effective contribution to the governance of the Partnership.
  • Line management of the CAWT Chief Officer
  • Chairing the CAWT Management Board meetings

Strategic issues for the CAWT Partnership

  • Building and maintaining relationship with key stakeholders such as the three Departments of Health (the EU INTERREG VA eligible area).
  • Supporting the work of the North South Ministerial Council
  • Ensuring the objectives and targets of CAWT’s EU INTERREG VA funded programme of work are achieved.
  • Embedding and mainstreaming of CAWT’s EU INTERREG VA funded programme of work