Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Murnane O'Connor for the question about home support specifically for people with dementia. Yesterday, I travelled to Kerry to open the 30th memory technology room for people living with dementia. This was the first purpose-built room in Ireland. We have 29 others. It is fantastic to see the money that was so hard fought for in the budget delivering on the ground. It makes such a difference.

Last year in the budget I secured €250,000 for home care services ring-fenced specifically for dementia. These services were gone by July of this year, which is unbelievable. That will tell you the demand that exists for home care. This year in the budget, working with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, I was able to secure 11% of the five million extra hours for next year, which is in excess of 550,000 hours, specifically for dementia. As well as this, I secured another €7.3 million to roll out different dementia-specific supports to help people live at home. We want people to age well at home. That is our focus.

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