Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. His advocacy is constant in this area. It is not the first time we have spoken about dementia-specific supports in the Macroom area. It is a key priority for the Government to allow more people to engage in services that allow them to remain independent and live in their own homes with dignity and independence for as long as possible. As the Deputy is aware, the HSE has operational responsibility for planning, managing and delivering health and personal social services. A wide range of core services are provided for older people, including home support, day care, community supports in partnership with voluntary groups and intermediate care, as well as long-stay residential care when remaining at home is no longer feasible.

As the Deputy knows and has alluded to, we have an ageing population. We also have the highest life expectancy in the EU, as deemed by the World Health Organization. People want to live at home for as long as possible with the correct wraparound supports. I call it the triangle of supports - home care, day care and meals on wheels. It is hugely important to support people to age in place.

Access to day centres can make an important contribution by providing invaluable support, advice and social interaction for older people who may, for any number of reasons, be experiencing isolation and loneliness. We know that older people have found it hard to reconnect since the Covid pandemic. They find it hard to take that confident step to come back into the community. Older people also benefit from increased physical activity, cognitive stimulation, enhanced nutrition, healthcare monitoring and social work support.

Day centres are also an important indirect resource for carers. While day centres provide a range of services for older people, many HSE day centres offer higher dependency day supports for people living with dementia who need more one-to-one support, including nursing support, and the development of this specialist day centre is based on local population need. Some 30 people per day are diagnosed with dementia. The current figures are that 64,000 people are living with dementia. Having dementia-specific supports in areas is very important. I have a good working relationship with the Alzheimer Society of Ireland. During the Covid pandemic, the opportunity was taken to do a risk assessment of each service in the country, including our day services to make sure they were fit for purpose from infection prevention and control measures. I announced the provision of an additional €3.5 million to support up to 330 day care centres throughout the country. I also secured an additional €2.1 million for dementia-specific community day care services. As I have said, 46 are now up and running in partnership with the Alzheimer Society of Ireland.

To turn to the Deputy's specific point, I visited the campus in Macroom where the community hospital is located. I have seen the works under way, some of which are completed. It is a fantastic facility. However, there is room to do so much more on the campus. Immediately across from that was the former health centre. At that time, the ambulance services were using it. My understanding is that they no longer are, or maybe they are using part of it. There is a huge opportunity here because when we try to put supports in place for people, we have to think outside the box and must utilise every empty building and make them all fit for purpose. I believe this is the plan. The HSE has advised me it is not possible to define a timeline for the day care centre project at this time, as allocation of capital funding is currently awaited. However, the HSE is supportive of it. It is something in which I will take a specific interest. Since I came into this House as Minister of State three years ago, I have often spoken about the postcode lottery. It is important, no matter of where you live, that you can access those vital supports.

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