Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy. Planning, including evidence-based planning, and research are key to all of this. The combination of both the delivery of services within communities and research will give us the tools we will need to deliver what is essential. The Alzheimer Society of Ireland was the key driver in all of this and the conduit between Atlantic Philanthropies and the Government in terms of how we would put this package in place. It delivers an incredible service to its clients on behalf of the Government. Everyone I know who has used it raves about it. I agree that we need to know what is coming down the track and what we will need to ensure people can stay increasingly within their own communities. We should be glad that the leading clinician in all of this is Dr. Tony Foley from Kinsale. He is leading the whole project in terms of the community-based delivery of services for those with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. We are well on the way to knowing what we will need in the future.

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