Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

For each of the 55,000 people who suffer from dementia, at least three others are affected by it. They need certainty and consistency in the delivery of services, but that is not happening. We are putting these people on an appalling health journey, and the blockages and inconsistency in services throughout the country are making that journey even more difficult. It took the Minister of State's personal intervention to resolve a service issue in Mayo that Deputy Lisa Chambers and I raised at the end of last month, when the HSE was going to cut services to dementia sufferers. Families need more than ministerial intervention to give them certainty in services, though; they need a break. The lack of a properly resourced strategy is not helping.

Apart from the 55,000 dementia sufferers we know of, how many more will receive that diagnosis? People are developing dementia at a younger age. Specific cohorts within the 55,000 have additional needs, for instance, the 700 with Down's syndrome. They are all being left in abeyance because of the lack of a properly funded and deliverable strategy and the inconsistency from CHO to CHO. People with dementia should get the same level of high service no matter where they are in the country, but that is not happening.

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