Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have heard the Deputy advocate for dementia care advisers and appreciate and acknowledge the role they play at the eight locations. I also acknowledge that an independent evaluation has been conducted by UCC which very much sees the merit in and the need to expand the service. Obviously, we are having this conversation at a time when the HSE has received a budget of €17 billion. It needs to map the services it will provide in 2019. I expect that process to conclude shortly. One of my views which I am happy to share with the Deputy is that while she is right that a lot of good work has been done with moneys allocated from the Dormant Accounts Fund, as she has seen in Waterford and I have seen in my community and others, we need to look at how we can move beyond that funding to have a proper budget line for the National Dementia Office. I hope we can make some progress on that issue in 2019 and build on it further. Given the number of people being diagnosed with dementia on a daily basis, the direction of travel in terms of the services we need to put in place is clear for all to see. I hope we can make progress in that regard in the national service plan.

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