Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Kelleher for raising this important matter and for giving me the opportunity to respond to the issues raised.

With some 55,000 people living with dementia, and 4,000 new diagnoses every year, it is important to ensure appropriate services are available to meet the various needs of people with dementia. To determine what supports are required, a mapping of services currently available needed to be conducted. To support the future development of services and supports for people with dementia, the HSE’s national dementia office and the Alzheimer Society of Ireland collaborated on a project to map dementia specific community-based services across the country. This measure is in line with the national dementia strategy which calls on the HSE to critically review health and personal social services for people with dementia, to identify gaps in existing provision and to prioritise areas for action in accordance with resource availability, with priority being given to the most urgent deficits which can be addressed either within or by reconfiguring existing resources.

This project is one of a series of data collection measures being taken by the national dementia office to increase our knowledge of dementia and the services supporting people with dementia. The project was concluded last October. It illustrates what dementia specific services are available in locations across the country and will support the development and planning of resources in the future. Findings also show that existing services are concentrated around dementia specific day care centres and carer support programmes.

While the final draft of the report has been sent to the HSE and the Alzheimer Society of Ireland for approval, it should be noted the report has not yet been adopted. That said, the national dementia office has used the findings from this project to develop a service finder, which is now available on the HSE’s www.understandtogether.ie website. The service finder allows people to search for dementia specific community services in their area. The national dementia office is working with the Centre for Economic and Social Research in Dementia in NUI Galway to identify the full range of services people with dementia can access to further populate the service finder. The evidence will be used to support dementia service planning in each community health organisation area.

The Department of Health is determined to work with the HSE in providing the supports that people with dementia need, irrespective of their location, as well as to ensure that the national dementia strategy is implemented as fully as possible. Resources have been secured from the Dormant Accounts Fund to support people with dementia and their carers across a range of measures such as post-diagnostic supports, assistive technology libraries, community groups and a national dementia registry. Additionally, €9 million is provided in the 2018 HSE’s national service plan for intensive home care packages, many of which are provided to people with dementia. These projects highlight the commitment of the Department of Health to improving the range and quality of supports to people with dementia across the country.