Mr. Andy Heffernan:

I thank the Deputy for her comments about our Cavan activities and her ongoing support for them. She asked about where people can go for help when they get a diagnosis and what signposting there is to available supports. As with any diagnosis, people with dementia are put into a different environment, with different language, various pathways, etc. It can be very frightening. I went through it with my mum many years ago. Regarding the advice initially, our helpline is there and it had more than 6,500 interactions last year. The helpline operators provide a listening ear, initial advice and the material required to understand the situation.

In the past few years, we have rolled out the concept of a dementia adviser, of whom there is one in each county. When anyone rings me about a loved one who has received a diagnosis, I point that person towards the dementia adviser, who is a one-stop shop in terms of the services available, whether clinical, psychosocial or carer supports, within that county. I encourage and urge people to use the service, which has been very successful over the past number of years.

It provides that link for the person and the family over the following months or years, and throughout the journey. It is a frightening area. There is a lot of new language and there are different pieces and lots of moving parts even with the model of care.

The Deputy also mentioned the practicalities for families, and that resonates with us. We deliver family care training annually, which is dementia-specific, has won numerous awards and has been validated through research. More than 650 people went through that last year and there are six modules. It is down to the practicalities - the simple stuff that can be done in the house or home, which makes things a bit easier. It explains some of the responsive actions and activities by people with the condition. We are certainly looking to expand that as much as possible, through fundraised money, donations and HSE funding. We certainly have plans to increase that. However, following a study last year, we have also found that on occasion people are not ready when they come to the first one or two modules. There is a requirement for a degree of counselling. There are all of the emotions of a loved one being diagnosed and having that diagnosis. The first one or two modules are quasi-counselling to an extent. We urge, and are looking to further explore this year, the concept of that counselling or psychotherapeutic input for families. On the training, I met a man in west Clare last summer whose wife had been diagnosed. We had a good chat. Just from what I heard him say, I said the family carer training was for him. He has started that in the past few weeks, and his life at home has changed in terms of the practicalities he is picking up.

The Deputy also mentioned the campaigns. I refer to the National Dementia Services, formerly the National Dementia Office, and the Understand Together part of that. It is very much about public awareness of what dementia is, and how to become dementia friendly and inclusive. It is a whole-of-society approach. We can open the day service in Cavan or Monaghan, but there is a lot more in those communities to also support the person. A lot of that is about destigmatisation. We have worked well on that over the years. From my travels around the country I see those levels of stigma have reduced, but not everywhere. In more rural areas, in particular, that level is still there. That is where you are looking at the whole-of-community response. As the Deputy mentioned, we will be doing that in the Cavan area with friends of ASI. We try to do work with the local community, church, GAA club and so on because we all play a part.

The Deputy's fourth point was about acute services. This is something we have been pushing. In fairness, a number of the acute hospitals have dementia specialist nurses at a senior enough level. That is to provide dementia awareness within the acute setting, because somebody with dementia can be traumatised going through accident and emergency. Going through certain diagnostic screenings can be very upsetting for someone as well. There is a lot of work, and that has also been accepted within that acute sector. The HSE has appointed a number of those, although I do not have the figures. It is certainly something we have been pushing for in positive behaviour supports, PBS, in recent years.

The final point was about the model of care. I wanted to focus in on the model of care in my opening statement as well because it is a game-changer. It is something that is not seen across Europe. It is part of the strategy we embarked on ten years ago. It has been launched now and has all the pieces. It sets out that pathway. There are certain elements of that in place at the moment with regional specialist memory services and intellectual disability, ID, services. However, the plans for 2024 are also being impacted by the recruitment embargo. We would hate to see a loss of momentum in what is a very important piece of work, and an important framework for the future of dementia in Ireland. That pathway provided for within the model of care is pretty unique in the European setting too. We have to make it work, implement it, and get that ring-fenced funding on a multi-annual basis.