Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the delegations for their presentations and the work they are doing in this area. Obviously, it is a difficult area and will become an increasing one with our growing aging population. Up to 990,000 people will be over 65 by 2030 which will mean there will be a growth in the number of people with dementia.

I noticed a significant variation between the number of men and women who have dementia from the 2011 census. For men, it was 17,391 diagnosed with dementia while for women, it was 30,459. Why is there such a variation? Is it because women live longer? Has any research been done in this area? Is it an area in which we need to do further research?

An issue raised in the national dementia strategy was that 94% of hospitals have no dementia care pathway in place.

When reports and strategies are produced, I always worry about the timeframe for implementation of sections of reports and cross checking to see what progress has been made after two, three or five years’ time. Do we have enough mechanisms in place to cross check the progress that is made on what is set out in a clear strategy document, which took time to prepare? Who will audit it? It is very important. While it is great to produce reports, the timeframe for implementation of the recommendations is important. Regarding the finding that 94% of hospitals have no dementia care in place, what progress can be made on it and in what timeframe?