Brendan Daly (Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Feeney for sharing her time with me. I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The measure of the success of a Minister is in determining what budgetary allocation he or she can secure for his or her area of responsibility. The Minister of State has had great success in this regard, and this is a welcome allocation.

I wish to focus on and ask the Minister of State to direct attention to people suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Recent studies indicate that 35,000 people in Ireland suffer from Alzheimer's disease. This is an increasing challenge to policymakers and service providers. In my constituency in Clare it is estimated that approximately 1,000 people suffer from the disease. Based on current statistics it is reckoned that approximately 500 more people will be at risk of developing it in the next number of years. This is a serious challenge for the Department, the community at large and the service providers.

To date, existing services have not been successful in providing what is required in this area. Current services are fragmented, underdeveloped and in many cases that leads to crisis because people do not obtain the service they require until such time as they are in a crisis. This issue needs to be dealt because it poses a challenge for the services and their providers.

I want to pay tribute to people who have worked in providing a voluntary service in some of the day care centres and institutions. I mention in particular the service provided by Clarecastle day care centre in my constituency. It has a development plan which will provide additional places for approximately 50 people on a day-care basis. This will greatly alleviate the pressure on the institutions because the latter do not have the necessary bed capacity or the facilities to deal with people with Alzheimer's disease.

In so far as it is possible to do so, it is imperative that people who suffer from Alzheimer's disease should be cared for outside the long-stay institutions. Supporting and funding plans of community groups such as the Clarecastle day care centre will relieve pressure on institutions such as St. Joseph's in Ennis, which has only 12 long-stay beds for people with Alzheimer's disease. It is estimated that in County Clare, 50 such beds are required, some of them being long-stay beds. In some of the other institutions such as Carrigoran where there are 25 such places. Fees must be paid for those places and they are expensive.

This issue was raised by Senator Browne. I endorse what he said about the number of people and families in particular who find it extremely difficult not only to meet the cost of providing care for people with Alzheimer's disease but to find places to accommodate them. This is an increasingly serious problem. In the programme to which the Senator referred, one woman was in such a desperate state she spoke about bringing her mother to the accident and emergency department in one of the hospitals because she could not care for her any longer. This issue needs urgent attention.

I draw the attention of the Minister of State to the needs of those suffering from Alzheimer's disease. I spoke to some people about the need to establish an Alzheimer's disease foundation similar to the Hospice Foundation where resources in the private sector could be utilised to complement and support what the Minister can do in this area. This is an urgent and pressing demand for such services.