Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support the Order of Business as outlined.

I want to give a shout out to St. Joseph's in Shankill, which specialises in dementia services. In fact, St. Joseph's is the only dedicated nursing home for people who suffer Alzheimer's disease and dementia. The staff there do an incredible job. They have put together a really exciting project and received Erasmus funding together with the European countries of Portugal, Spain and Greece, and Turkey, which is in the wider European area. The work done by the staff of St. Joseph's is really valuable and we should note same. It is important that we recognise and encourage organisations to come together and look for research funding in terms of dealing with all of the important issues that we have.

St. Joseph's has a project called Putting Project Dementia Right and is a rights-based approach to dementia. A charter of rights will be developed for people with dementia and, importantly, their care givers. They are looking at devising a European professional guide that will help anyone with dementia and their care givers. They will also produce innovative materials as a support. The work that Ms Siobhán Grant and her team are doing in St. Joseph's in Shankill needs to be noted and I wish them well. In early 2022, representatives of the four partner countries will come here and we will get to hear more about the project.

Last week, my colleagues and I met Mr. Mark Keane, president of PDFORRA, to discuss the people who joined post 1994. If they have not been promoted then they are obliged to leave after 20 years of service. If such a situation continues then we will lose approximately 1,400 personnel next year, which would be a ridiculous situation. We all know the pressure on the Defence Forces so it makes no sense to discharge medically fit and physically fit men and women who wish to remain in the force. There have been conversations about this matter with the Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, and I have spoken to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, on this matter. I hope that a decision will be made to change the situation.

Today is Animal Welfare Awareness Day and funding of almost €4 million has been given to 98 animal welfare organisations around the country, which is welcome. It is important to acknowledge the important role that these organisations and volunteers do day in and day out. It is also important to herald the new animal welfare strategy. As well as giving support, it is important that we send a strong message to anyone who is thinking of getting a pet for Christmas. I urge people to think long and hard about how much care an animal needs and then, if they decide to get an animal, they should go to the welfare organisations. My family has always got their animals from a local shelter. If people are not going to get an animal from a shelter then they should buy from a respected breeder.