Jackie Cahill
Question:142. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Health the additional supports Budget 2022 is providing for persons with dementia; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50693/21]
View answerTuesday, 19 October 2021
Questions (142)
Written answers
This Government is committed to ensuring that those living with dementia have access to the right services and supports to help them to live well in their communities.
As Minister of State with Responsibility for Mental Health and Older People, I was delighted to be able to announce an additional allocation of €7.3 million in Budget 2022 for dementia services. I am confident that this investment will continue to improve diagnosis and access to services for people with dementia across the country .
The additional funding will allow for the further improvement of dementia services, including in the areas of memory assessment and support services, memory technology resource rooms, the implementation of the dementia registry and dementia audit within acute hospitals and the national intellectual disability memory service. The details will be finalised over the coming weeks with the HSE through the National Service Plan process.
In addition to the €7.3m, the proportion of new home support hours ringfenced for people with dementia will more than double from 5% in 2021 to 11% in 2022.
Taken together, this will represent 15 million euro of investment dedicated to dementia in 2022, on top of the €12.9m of additional funding in 2021.
As the Deputy is aware I have long been an advocate for the development of services for people with dementia and their families and I am delighted to be able to continue the focused investment in these services and supports.