Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 October 2021
145. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Health the way he plans to expand dementia day care services in County Mayo; the engagement his Department has had with organisations (details supplied) on increasing the delivery of services in the county through capital investment and nursing supports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48530/21]
View answerIt is a matter for the Health Service Executive to identify the need for dementia specific daycare services and to make appropriate service arrangements for the delivery of such services to meet identified needs. In this context, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly on the question of any planned expansion of dementia specific daycare services in Co.Mayo.
I received a pre-budget submission from the Alzheimer's Society of Ireland on September 9th 2021 which the Department and I have considered ahead of Budget 2022. As Minister of State with responsibility for Mental Health and Older People, I regularly engage with representative groups including Western Alzheimer’s and the Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland. I have met with Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland along with Department of Health officials to discuss their pre-budget submission. I am committed to supporting the continued development of dementia services, including the expansion of day centres.
I am also committed to the implementation of the Irish National Dementia Strategy, which works towards improving how we provide care for people living with dementia across the country. As the Deputy may be aware, 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.
One of the measures funded through the €5m for the implementation of the National Dementia Strategy is the development of four new Memory Assessment and Support Services in Mayo, Sligo, Waterford and Wexford. These new services will improve access to assessment and diagnostic services.
More broadly, the provision of funding to respond to the ongoing need for dementia specific services is a matter for consideration in the forthcoming Estimates process.
