Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is a really important point. I am conscious that there is a campaign on dementia led by the HSE and I understand that the Alzheimer's Society of Ireland is also involved. We are hearing those messages on the radio and reading about it in newspapers. It is important to stress that there are different types of dementia. It does not recognise class, creed, colour or financial background. It can impact on anyone. Questions have been asked this morning about young people as well as older people getting it. I am familiar with the idea that someone with a hearing problem tends to switch off. It is amazing that when the brain is not hearing noises people start to imagine that they are hearing noises.

In 2017, an Oireachtas committee was set up and again the Alzheimer's Society of Ireland was involved in that. There was a new programme building awareness of dementia. At that time the figure of 55,000 was talked about and I believe it is now 64,000. Representatives of the Alzheimer's Society of Ireland recently attended our Ard-Fheis. It was stated that one in three people in the North is not diagnosed with dementia.