Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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2302. To ask the Minister for Health the progress made in implementing the National Dementia Strategy. [37308/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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A key commitment in the Programme for Government is the implementation of the Irish National Dementia Strategy, which aims to improve how we provide care for people living with dementia. The National Dementia Office, established within the HSE, oversees implementation of the Strategy.

In Budget 2021, the Government allocated €12.9 million for a number of dementia specific measures. This allocation comprised of €7m for an additional 250,000 hours of home support for people living with dementia, €0.9m to expand the dementia advisor service operated by the Alzheimer Society of Ireland and €5m for implementation of the National Dementia Strategy.

In furtherance of the National Dementia Strategy, the HSE's National Service Plan (NSP) 2021 contains plans to further develop dementia diagnostic services through the establishment of a specialist memory clinic in Cork and progressing four new regional memory assessment and support services. NSP 2021 also commits to enhancing acute care pathways for people with dementia through the recruitment of more clinical nurse specialists and the implementation of a National Clinical Guideline on the appropriate prescribing of psychotropic medication for non-cognitive symptoms in people with dementia. The additional NSP funding will also be used to enhance Memory Technology Resource Room services in 9 sites.

The National Dementia Office also supports a Dementia Adviser Service set up by the Alzheimer Society of Ireland in 2014. 10 additional dementia advisors were recruited in 2020 and a further 11 dementia advisors will be recruited this year. This will enable an increased level of service to be provided throughout the country.

Finally, as the Deputy will be aware, there has been a continued focus on meeting the needs of people living with dementia who were impacted by the suspension of day care services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Dementia Understand Together Campaign developed a range of initiatives and resources to ensure that people living with dementia stayed safe, well and connected during the crisis. NSP 2021 provides funding to continue support for in-home day care services set up in the context of COVID-19.