Northern Ireland to raise expectations.

A leading Northern Irish civil servant has called on the government
to educate people to seek higher standards from social
services.

Denis McMahon, director of strategy, inclusion and development at
Northern Ireland’s Department of Health, Social Services and Public
Safety, said people’s expectations of social services were too low.

He added that, although the UK had a good level of social services,
it fell down in the area of responsiveness compared with other EU
countries.

Northern Ireland’s civil servants are talking to people about
proposed social care policies rather than just launching
consultations.

McMahon said: “We are educating people in what they can expect and
building on the capacity of communities.”

He said that wastage would be reduced if social services were more
responsive to people’s needs.