Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House where he is always a welcome face. I welcome the commitment of the Minister of State with responsibility for primary care, Deputy White, to ensuring the publication of the national dementia strategy in 2013. We would all like to envisage an Ireland where everyone could live the life of their choosing and have a good quality of life despite their disability or despite being diagnosed with a terrible illness. With this illness, somebody has a perfect body but his or her mind goes. It is very sad and hurtful for the person and his or her family. I worked in a nursing home years ago and distinctly recall a family member coming home from the US to visit his mother who did not recognise him. The mother was in a happy place but he was not. It was heartbreaking and wrenching to see a grown man cry because his own mother did not recognise him.

Obviously, early diagnosis and intervention must be looked at and developed to the highest degree. All experts say that the earlier the diagnosis, the better the quality of life for the sufferer and the family looking after him or her. Following on from early diagnosis of dementia, as stated in Department of Health policy, the move is to get people back into the community and living in their homes. For that to happen, we need to put the services in place. Part of the issue is the lack of legislation to underpin access to these services. We need to put legislation in place to give people what they are entitled to, otherwise services are discretionary, as they are at the moment. I know the single assessment tool will be introduced but we need to look at the services that are in place.

It is very hard for people to access services on the ground, regardless of what people will say and put down on paper. It is hard to know when people are to leave hospital or whether there will be home help available. It is a long and hard road for the family members looking after a person with dementia. It is hard enough to have to live with it and see one's loved one in this condition without having to fight the system. Unfortunately, I find that people are constantly fighting the system and looking for their entitlements and rights. As part of the strategy, we must ensure people's access and entitlement to these services is included in legislation.

The Minister of State, Deputy White, sang the praises of carers and rightly so. I continually fought for carers even before I was elected a Member of the Oireachtas because they are one of the most valuable assets this country has. They are saving the State a fortune and we must look after and value them. Once a carer is taken away from a person, he or she will inevitably end up in a nursing home or in care, which is very sad, so we must protect our carers. The national carers' strategy has gone a long way towards underpinning their rights. I will leave it at that because everything has been said by other Senators who have all highlighted what they want in the strategy. I am sure the Minister of State will take on board their views and revert to the Ministers on this subject in his own time. I thank him for taking the time to listen.