Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his acknowledgement. I agree that it should not have been necessary for him to reach out to a Minister to have the issue in his county resolved.

Regarding the wider question on a new national dementia strategy, the strategy itself is not the issue. It is ambitious, and one of the key elements underpinning it is a change of culture in society so that, rather than believing that people should be locked away just because they have dementia, they should instead be accommodated in their own communities. Such a shift in attitudes highlights the significant challenges facing a strategy like this. It is not something that will happen overnight, which resources would not allow for anyway.

I want more resources to be invested in dementia services. There are no two ways about it, but dementia is the challenge of our time. We as a political body must respond in kind and up our game when it comes to resourcing the provision of services for the significantly increasing number of people affected by dementia on a daily basis, as Deputy Butler stated.

An external evaluation of the strategy is about to be concluded and I look forward to its conclusion. Once that happens, we need to continue with our current strategy and ensure its implementation.

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