Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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210. To ask the Minister for Health if he will report on the implementation of the national dementia strategy. [31784/17]

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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The National Dementia Strategy was published in December 2014. It is estimated that there are currently 55,000 people with dementia in Ireland today. Furthermore, these numbers are expected to increase significantly in the years ahead.

The aim of the Strategy is to improve dementia care so that people with dementia can live well for as long as possible, can have services and supports delivered in the best way possible, and can ultimately die with dignity. The Strategy emphasises that most people with dementia live in their own communities and can continue to live well and to participate in those communities. The Strategy contains a set of priority actions capable of implementation within existing resources or by reconfiguring resources. It also contains a number of additional actions which may require resources additional to what is currently available and which will be considered as these become available in the future.

The Department of Health and the HSE are working on a mid-term review of the implementation of the National Dementia Strategy which will be published in the Autumn and will identify the achievements so far and set out the further work that is required to implement the Strategy over the next 12 months and beyond. The resources required for the ongoing implementation of the Strategy can only be considered in the context of the Estimates and Budget process. The mid-term review will assist in identifying further actions required and will be helpful in the context of budgetary considerations.