Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Dementia was one of the areas that I prioritised when I took up the position as Minister of State. We had eight dementia advisers and we now have 28. We also have 31 memory clinics throughout the country. As I said earlier, 15% of all home care hours are dementia-specific. We also have dementia home care packages. We have made a lot of progress in what we have done for dementia. Prior to 2020 there was no ring-fenced money for dementia. We were always dependent on dormant accounts and philanthropy. I have embedded dementia in the base of all health budgets going forward. We have built on it over the past three years. There are quite a lot of complications in capacity when it comes to dementia. I believe that the clarity in the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2022 will be helpful. Dr. Philip Dodd will reply to the question on delayed discharges.