Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, to the House. In case he is not aware, this is world dementia month during which we are trying to raise awareness of the number of people suffering from dementia and, unfortunately, the lack of supports for them in Ireland. There are currently 55,000 people diagnosed with dementia in Ireland and 4,000 people are diagnosed with the disease every year. It is forecast that 115,000 people in Ireland will suffer from dementia in 2036. While we have had a national dementia strategy in place since 2014, little progress has been made other than in identifying the issues that need to be addressed. I have served on the all-party group on dementia in these Houses seeking a better service and more supports. Unfortunately, I feel that we have failed because we have seen no significant improvement for dementia sufferers, their families and carers over the past three years.

Dementia is an ignored condition. Those who have it and their families are ignored and care is very much a postcode lottery. There are nine dementia advisers serving 11 counties. The Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, represents Cork where there is one dementia adviser serving the whole county. The Minister of State will be aware of the distances that must be travelled in County Cork. He may have come across the dementia adviser service, which provides vital supports and also signposts for families the services they can knit into. In many cases, this enables families to keep a loved one at home for a much longer period.

The solution to the problem is not nursing home care. It is to try to keep family loved ones at home for as long as possible. I will not go into the financial impact of providing nursing home care for dementia sufferers but it is substantial.On many occasions, that care can be provided at home but the people who provide it are not being supported. The Minister of State does not have responsibility for this area but I wish to express my deep disappointment on behalf of the all-party committee regarding the fact that there has been absolutely no progress over three years. On several occasions during that period, it has been flagged to members of the committee that we would see progress "this year" but, unfortunately, "this year" has never come. There has been increase in the number of dementia advisers and no targeted intervention in respect of home care packages. We asked for targeted packages for families who have children with Down's syndrome, particularly as 88% of these children develop dementia. It is with deep disappointment that I say that no progress has been made

I ask that the Minister of State take the message back to the Minister, Deputy Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Daly, that we expect progress in 2019. We do not expect everything in that one year but we expect an incremental increase in services provided to the more than 50,000 sufferers and their families, as well as a pathway to proper services for the projected 115,000 sufferers by 2036. The Department of Health and the Central Statistics Office, which is responsible for compiling the census, have flagged these numbers. We need to get ready and ensure that those sufferers will have access to a proper service and that their families and carers will be supported.