Colette Kelleher (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I concur with Senator Conway-Walsh in her comments on homelessness. We are all worried about getting home during the storm, but one only has to walk around the streets of Dublin or Cork, with which I am very familiar, to see people living in makeshift tents. I hope they will be safe. I have just come from a briefing given by the Simon Communities of Ireland. They are operating at capacity or beyond in their shelters. When I was chief executive, there were 44 beds available. My happiest day will be when we have enough housing in order that nobody will need to be in a shelter. The shelters are overcrowded, with 50 people each night. It is catastrophic for those who have to rely on emergency services and would rather be in a house. There was a very good report published this week by Cork Simon on people getting back into work. Time was when someone had a job, it was the pathway out of homelessness. Now, owing to the unavailability of housing, people in a shelter are working. That is a shocking state of affairs I take the opportunity on the Order of Business to ask the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to come to the Chamber after the announcement of the budget to see what settlement has been made on housing, particularly for organisations working on the front line.

The all-party Oireachtas group on dementia have had three cracks at the budget and got nowhere. We have tabled Commencement matters and had meetings with Ministers. We have packed out Oireachtas venues such as the dining room and the AV room. Everybody is in agreement that dementia is a major issue. Most Members have a family member who is directly affected by it, yet we have made no progress. We made modest requests last year and promises were made, but nothing came of them in the budget. I concur with Senator Horkan in requesting the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, to come to the Chamber to make a statement on the allocation to be included in budget 2020 for dementia services. People cannot wait. A modest sum of €7.5 million would bring services up to a minimum standard in providing access to home care and day services. A modest sum of €1.6 million would enable us to make a start in providing an infrastructure of dementia advisers. When people receive a diagnosis of dementia, they are sent home without any support. They do not know what to do. They are left with a significant diagnosis and no signposts or supports in dealing with it. We would like to have a network of dementia advisers in every part of the country. We want regional centres of excellence for people with Down's syndrome who develop dementia at a much higher rate and a much earlier age. We also want homecare services. There is a lack of such provision which means we are failing people all of the time.

To recap, I would like the Ministers for Housing, Planning and Local Government and Health to come to the House to make statements on housing and services for those with dementia.