Mr. Gerry Martin:

Thank you, Vice Chairman and members of the committee, for the opportunity to present to the committee. Briefly, by way of background, the Alzheimer Society of Ireland is a nationwide, grassroots-led, volunteer-led organisation. We represent the voice of the now 48,000 people living with dementia in Ireland, 63% of whom continue to live at home. We are also the leading provider of dementia services in Ireland.

The theme of our budget submission, which I hope members have had a chance to read, is supporting care in the community, in particular making living at home the first option. Our call within the submission is a simple one: that we invest in existing Government and health policy, namely, to maintain people living at home for as long as possible. We know at first hand that the policy is the right one for people with dementia. It is the right policy for their families and carers and it is also economically the right policy in terms of the overall cost of care. Equally, we know that it will not and cannot happen without supports. People need to be supported at home and in the community. We call, therefore, for further resources for home care, day care, respite and further support for the carers who carry the lion's share of the workload. Equally, we call for increased resources in the community such as community nursing and primary care and important community-based services such as occupational therapy and language therapy, for example. We know it is the right policy. We know when we invest we can get better outcomes. Equally, without it we also know what we get, namely, the worst possible outcome which is premature entry into expensive long-term care situations, which is wrong for, and perhaps even detrimental to, a person with dementia. It is certainly wrong for their families and ultimately a poorer outcome economically for the State.

Specifically, we call within our submission for more home-based and community-based supports. We ask that those supports would be made available on an equal access basis, unlike the current supports which tend to be something of a geographical lottery.

Supports and resources must be ring-fenced and sustainable. I doubt there is anyone at this meeting who has not come in contact with dementia in their wider family. Unfortunately, I can promise that in the next 20 years, not one family will not be affected by dementia. We will not leverage the economic benefits unless we invest in a sustainable and ring-fenced way. There is a growing awareness of dementia internationally. Members will be aware that it was on the agenda of the recent G8 summit. That has led for the first time to the development of a world dementia forum. In Ireland, we are awaiting anxiously the publication of a national dementia strategy which we believe will bring about systemic change for all people living with dementia.