Cuirfidh mé tús le m'óráid leis an méid ar chríochnaigh an Teachta Aird leis. Molaim an tAire Stáit go bhfuil sé anseo le linn na díospóireachta ar fad. Tá sé anseo ag fanacht. Ní dheachaigh sé amach as an Seomra. Taispeánann sé an meas atá aige ar an ábhar agus an méid cúraim atá air agus ar a bheirt chomhghleacaithe taobh thiar de go bhfuil siad ag fanacht linn chomh maith le haghaidh na díospóireachta ar fad. Is maith an rud é sin. I am glad of the opportunity to participate in the debate. These debates, where we focus on one particular issue, allow us to inform ourselves better about the issues impacting on people who suffer from dementia and indeed their loved ones and families. I recall on one occasion attending the funeral of a father of a friend of mine. I had been aware that the deceased man had been diagnosed with dementia some years earlier. When I expressed my condolences to my friend, his response really struck me. He said that this was the second time they had lost their father. I said I was struck by that, and it brought home to me the emotional challenge for a family of seeing a loved one suffering from dementia. I commend the contributions of Deputies Carrigy, Tóibín and Lawlor, who related their personal stories to us. I thought they were very powerful. I welcome much of what the Minister of State said about the Government's commitment to assist patients and their families. I welcome the funding provided to open memory assessment and support services. One of those services is proposed for Galway and I look forward to it opening, please God, in 2026. Galway will also be the location of one of two new regional specialist memory clinics. Development of these two services appear to be on time in their provision and they are very welcome, and I hope to see both of these new services leading to enhanced treatment and better health outcomes for patients diagnosed with dementia in my county and indeed the greater western region. In the correspondence we received from members of the community and advocates in the lead-up to this debate, there has been a focus on the provision of home care support. For most people living with dementia, as we heard from many contributors, the overwhelming wish of people is to remain in their own home, in familiar surroundings with their families and loved ones. Families want to support that wish for their own loved ones and I know that across the House, Government and Opposition want to support this. Our health service should be structured to support that. However, in the correspondence that we have received, concerns have emerged regarding the availability of HSE home support services. Emails indicate that funding has been exhausted in some areas, resulting in new home support packages being delayed, restricted, or prioritised only for those assessed as having the most acute clinical needs. These concerns are not new to us. In my constituency office, like many others I am sure, we get frequent correspondence from families who are seeking home care hours. One challenge for these agencies appears to be the attraction and retention of staff. If we can look at training more people in this area and promoting this as a profession, it might help. A concern has been brought to my attention but I do not want to imply wrongdoing on anyone's behalf. A family asked me to get clarity. They were provided with home care hours to be provided by a private company. That company advised the family that it did not have the staff to provide the care. The family told me they were concerned that despite not receiving the care, the company may still be receiving the money from the HSE. As I said, I do not want to imply any wrongdoing but it is a fair point and fair question that needs some clarity. If the Minister of State could provide clarity, I would appreciate it. I would like to advocate for the community-based home care services and provision. I mention one such community organisation in my constituency, Connemara Care, which provides home care and support for the elderly, people with disabilities, and people with dementia. I would love to see Government policy creating a system that favours and promotes the community care model, such as that offered by Connemara Care, where many of the people calling to provide the care are neighbours or people well-known to the person who needs the care. It is a lovely model. We must be conscious that not all families or situations will be suitable for home care support. In a similar manner to what we were hearing in relation to the available hours of home care support, my constituency office is contacted frequently by families seeking nursing home care. In my constituency, we need to increase the number of community nursing beds. Moves are afoot to maximise the capacity of Áras Mhic Dara at An Cheathrú Rua - in fairness, the Minister of State pushed that and I welcome it - by recruiting additional staff. This is welcome, although I point out that the recruitment process is not straightforward. It seems to be quite complex and difficult to recruit the staff. The HSE is also progressing a new 40-bed community nursing unit at St. Anne's in Clifden, which will include ten dementia-specific beds. Again, this is very welcome. I want to discuss the building of a new 60-bed community nursing unit at Merlin Park Hospital campus in Galway. This facility will provide 60 single en suite bedrooms. It will be a state-of-the-art, top-class facility, including a ten-bed dementia unit. My understanding is that this unit has been developed to replace the existing unit 5 and unit 6 at Merlin Park, which I understand are to be decommissioned. I would like that to be reviewed. I have a direct plea that we retain units 5 and 6 for the additional capacity of community nursing beds that would provide. These units are currently operating well. The buildings seem to be in good condition. One of them provides short-term respite care and the other provides longer term care. I know some of the staff, and I believe that local HSE officials would like to see the buildings retained for community nursing beds. I ask the Minister of State that we look at that.

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