Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Approximately 44,000 people in Ireland are currently living with some form of dementia. That number if expected to reach nearly 104,000 by 2037. More than 50,000 carers are also affected as each day they care for their loved ones who need that extra support.

Dementia is the umbrella term for a variety of conditions that can cause the brain to fail. The World Health Organisation describes dementia as a syndrome due to disease of the brain, usually of a chronic or progressive nature, in which there is impairment of multiple higher cortical functions. Alzheimer's disease is a form of dementia that represents the majority of cases. What Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia have in common is a high risk of behavioural disorders, including changing personalities and acting out of character.

The World Health Organisation's definition means that functions such as memory, orientation, comprehension, emotions and judgment may be affected in a person with dementia. It is important to remember that Alzheimer's is a medical condition and a disease of the brain. If the brain affects thought, feelings, personality and behaviour then Alzheimer's will affect how a loved one thinks, feels and what he or she does.

The range of symptoms can be enormous. People with Alzheimer's disease do not necessarily look sick. Although it is a physical illness, it often does not affect a person's appearance until the later stages of the disease. I welcome the work completed to date in putting a national dementia strategy into being. The Department of Health, together with the HSE, has agreed a joint initiative with Atlantic Philanthropies to implement significant elements of the strategy over the period 2014-17. This programme will promote a greater focus on timely diagnosis of dementia and on the value of early intervention, along with the long-term objective of making people in Ireland generally more aware and understanding of the needs of people with dementia and the contribution that those with dementia continue to make to our society.

People with dementia must be encouraged to participate in society and should be enabled to stay within their communities for as long as possible. I am delighted this Government, in conjunction with the HSE, recognised this fact in the case of Clarecastle day care centre's dementia unit. In late February 2013, following a near ten-year campaign, operational funding and recognition was finally given to the dementia-specific unit operating in the centre. The centre in Clarecastle is a purpose-built dementia day care facility that provides services for persons with mild and moderate dementia. I want to put on the record my thanks to the former Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, and Mr. Bernard Gloster, the area manager in the HSE, who took on board my representations and that of the local community and the board of Clarecastle day care centre. The dementia service in Clarecastle augments the provision of day care for elderly persons and it has operated at the site since 1999, catering for over 250 persons per week. The Clarecastle facility services a ten-mile radius and a population of over 50,000 people.

The service delivered in Clarecastle represents exceptional value for money while also offering precious respite for carers. The dementia services delivered in Clarecastle day care centre should be further enhanced, as there is a capacity to do so. Such a model of care should be replicated in other communities right across the country and such day care services for mild, moderate dementia patients should form a key part of the national strategy. I compliment the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, on her work and I look forward to the strategy being further developed and brought into being in the coming months and years ahead.

See this speech in context