Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will try not to do that. I thank all of our guests for their detailed submissions which we had an opportunity to go through in advance. I will start with the Alzheimer Society of Ireland and welcome Mr. Martin and Ms McGettrick. Going through its submission, one thing that struck me was the dramatic increase in the number of people suffering from dementia that we are likely to see over the next 20 to 30 years. It seems we are woefully ill-equipped to deal with that. The submission put much emphasis on diagnosis and early intervention and says that €73 million could be saved if there was a 10% reduction in the number of people in long-stay facilities. What practical steps need to be implemented to bring about that reduction in the number of people in long-stay environments?