Frank O'Rourke (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Jim Daly, for taking this Topical Issue matter, which is very important to the people of north Kildare. I, along with Deputy Micheál Martin, who was on a visit recently to the constituency of Kildare North, met those looking for a dementia-specific day care centre in north Kildare. These people are very concerned about the lack of services in that area, which has a population of approximately 120,000. I will go into the detail of the need for services and the argument for putting such services in place.

The policy, which I think the Minister of State would support, involves supporting those living with dementia to allow them to live in their homes in the first instance and in the wider community and to ensure this can continue for as long as possible. There is no day centre in north Kildare for people with dementia. There are 1,229 people with dementia in Kildare so it is quite a significant number of people and the required service is not in place. It has also been recognised that three family members are directly affected by someone who is living with dementia and, as a result, they provide care for them on a day-to-day and voluntary basis, so there are many supports given within the immediate family. However, there is a need for others supports and services to assist those living with dementia.

Providing a two-day per week care centre to help people living with dementia in north Kildare has been costed at approximately €70,000. This is relatively reasonable money and I hope the Minister can accept that in the hope that we can provide such a service. This costing has been produced through the Alzheimer Society Of Ireland, so it is on a sound footing and based on good information. People living with dementia in north Kildare are starved of services at the moment because they are not in place. As a result, most people living with dementia in this region must travel to other locations like Dublin and south Kildare to get services. As the Minister of State is aware, people living with dementia are sometimes not in a position to travel because of their condition. People qualified in this area tell me that ideally, services should be located within a 30-mile radius. If we look at north Kildare, which encompasses Celbridge, Leixlip, Maynooth, Kilcock and Clane, we can see that services do not exist within a 30-mile radius of that region. The Alzheimer Society of Ireland feels that its requests are not being listened to properly and are not being taken on board by Government.

I have engaged with the HSE, which is very supportive of what needs to be provided in north Kildare and is assisting and supporting the Alzheimer Society of Ireland in a positive way. Obviously, what is needed is funding, which would need to be approved and allocated to allow this two-day per week day care centre to be set up to assist people living with dementia.

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