Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for coming here to take this very important debate organised by the Labour Party. I welcome Ms Gráinne McGettrick and Mr. Maurice O'Connell, CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, who are in the Gallery.

I acknowledge the work done by the Government to date on the dementia issue and the willingness of the Government to put it into the programme for Government. It has started to work, by way of a review, on dementia in our society. Senator O'Keeffe has provided a very detailed outline of the position in this country. I will take a different perspective, which is from personal experience. Anybody who has seen the effect of Alzheimer's disease in a family member or a close friend will know it is probably one of the worst conditions anybody could have the misfortune to encounter.

Currently in this country there is, unfortunately, almost an unwillingness to accept that the initial problems with Alzheimer's disease exist. We can end up with cases where the problem has gone too far, and the only solution in such cases is acceptance by family and the affected person, if the person is capable of it. That leads to nursing homes or long-stay hospital cases.

We must ensure that we put a strategy in place, and we will begin work on that very soon. The strategy must deal with a number of specific elements, including prevention, delaying the illness, early diagnosis and awareness within communities that people may have symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. People must be aware of this, and much good work has been done by the Alzheimer Society of Ireland and various other groups around the country. We are getting to grips with the issue but we must put such work into the strategy, along with a care management element. We must bring services out into the community and examine residential care as part of the strategy. The strategy for dealing with Alzheimer's disease must be completely transformative.

This Government has the willingness to act. We hear about budgets every day of the week which relate to every government item but a budget must be ring-fenced for this issue. As I stated earlier, it is probably one of the worst illnesses that anybody could encounter. I welcome the Minister of State's presence and await the rest of the debate. I hope I will have an opportunity to speak again at the end.