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

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Many people with dementia are able to live long, fulfilling lives following their diagnosis, and fostering compassionate and inclusive communities can greatly improve the quality of life for persons with dementia and their families. It is Government policy that people should live and receive care in their own homes and communities for as long as possible.

To support future development of services and supports for people with dementia, the National Dementia Office and the Alzheimer Society of Ireland undertook a joint project in 2016 and 2017 to map dementia-specific, community-based services across the country. Information from the project is included in an online service finder on the Understand Together website so people can find out what services are available in each county. In north Kildare, the HSE offers a psychiatry of later life service in Naas, providing specialist mental health services to older people through a multidisciplinary team. This team works with GPs, hospitals and other local health care and social services, and St. John of God's, Liffey region, operates an intellectual disability memory clinic in Celbridge. As a population, the risk of developing dementia is much higher among those with an intellectual disability and among those with Down's syndrome in particular, and this service provides an early warning.

The Alzheimer Society of Ireland runs a dementia-specific, person-centred day centre in Kildare town, and day care centres in Maynooth and Monasterevin. People with dementia are also able to access generic day care services from a centre in Kildare. The Alzheimer Society of Ireland also operates one of its branches in Monasterevin, providing support and information at a local level, as well as support groups in Clane, Kilcock and Newbridge, a social club in Maynooth, Alzheimer cafés in Leixlip and Naas, and four dementia carer support groups across the county.

While there are gaps in access to services and a variation in what services are provided, efforts are ongoing to address this. To address the gap, and to meet the national dementia strategy objective that people with dementia should be facilitated to remain living in their own homes, €2.2 million has been secured through the 2018 dormant accounts action plan to test the concept of community-based resource or meeting centres for people living with dementia, offering a range of services, including day care services, information and advice services, peer and carer support, post-diagnostic support programmes, education and training, and psychological interventions. The National Dementia Office met senior HSE officials in CHO 7 to highlight service gaps and to provide guidance and support on dementia service planning and development. A dementia needs framework has been developed to support existing services. On a national level, as part of the national dementia strategy implementation programme, a range of supports have been introduced to assist people with dementia and their families and carers, including dementia-specific intensive home care packages and a training programme for GPs and primary care teams to help them to diagnose and manage dementia.

Assistive technology can play a role in the helping people manage their daily lives following a dementia diagnosis. A national network of memory technology resource rooms has been established with funding from the Dormant Accounts Fund, including one in County Kildare. These rooms allow people with dementia and their families to explore and test appropriate equipment which may assist them, enhancing independence, well-being and safety.

The Department of Health and the HSE are committed to ensuring that community services will continue to develop integrated working arrangements across health and social care settings. Specific services for people with dementia are included in this, and work will continue to ensure the provision of effective services to support people with dementia, their carers and families.

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