I will be sharing time with my colleague, Deputy Lawlor. I pay tribute to the work of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland in its many years of fighting for this cause. I also pay tribute to my colleague, Deputy George Lawlor, who is co-chair of the Oireachtas working group on Alzheimer's disease. I warmly welcome Jordan and Cian Adams, who we had the pleasure of meeting earlier today. I have been bowled over by how they have turned their grief into such power. They have been an inspiration to thousands of people across this country, including people who might not ordinarily be clued into issues relating to dementia because it may not have directly affected their lives. Within my own community, I have been struck by people talking about Jordan and Cian's mission, the 33 marathons in 33 days, and the powerful message it sent as regards raising awareness and the call for greater research into, and understanding of, FTD. I thank them for all of their work. They have been an incredible inspiration. Almost 70,000 people in this country live with dementia. While many of us think of it as an older person's condition, it is important to say that there quite a number of people out there suffering from early onset dementia. There is also Korsakoff syndrome, Huntington's disease, posterior cortical atrophy, progressive supranuclear palsy and Lewy body disease. Those who have these lesser known or less familiar conditions sometimes have an enormous uphill battle in trying to access diagnostics and then the appropriate level of services. While there are brilliant supports, such as dementia cafés, across many communities in this country, those under the age of 65 are often hidden from view. I particularly think of the 2,277 people under the age of 65 who are in nursing homes across this country. Some are there because of an acquired brain injury but many are there because of dementia-related conditions. We have to ask whether that is the appropriate place for them. The critical issue in this discussion has to be the infrastructure of support for those suffering from dementia in Ireland. There is an enormous job of work to be done to ensure we have proper home care supports. I know the Minister of State takes a particular interest in that area. The provision of home care support packages across the country is very patchy. Here in Dublin, access is much easier, but in the south west and my own home county of Cork, it is extraordinarily difficult. If we are to allow people the dignity and independence of staying at home and afford them some sort of dignity as they deal with their condition, we must ensure that home care support packages are put in place. Part of this question relates to the model on which the State has relied up until now. There is huge reliance on private organisations and there have been a lot of issues in how some of those services have been delivered. We must look at increasing the number directly employed by the HSE in the sector. The other key thing is that not everybody will be able to stay in their home. With regard to long-term residential care, there has been a 12% drop in the number of dementia-specific community beds over the past five years. There are now 353 beds, 332 of which are long-stay beds and 21 of which are respite beds. The number of respite places has doubled. That is very welcome but it is obviously coming from an incredibly low base. For the people who I come across who are caring for their loved ones, not being able to access dementia supports is an enormous issue. I spoke earlier in the Dáil about the delayed transfers of care out of our hospitals. It reached 555 people yesterday. It is the highest on record in the year to date. We know that 602 of those people in the first four months of this year were waiting for clinically complex beds. Many of those people had dementia and they had nowhere to go out of our acute hospitals into more appropriate settings. The other critical issue I want to raise today is access to social welfare so that when a person, in particular someone under the age of 65, does develop a dementia-related condition, there is an understanding. Again, far too many people have come to our office and other people's offices trying to access disability payments and have not been approved or have had enormous difficulty trying to get through the bureaucratic nightmare of trying to prove their condition and their inability to work. I have to ask that the Minister of State use his office to convey a greater understanding to others. The last thing I want to say today is with regard to how health inequality applies to so many aspects of our health service. We know this with regard to the drugs that are out there. There are drugs that are being developed, which is fantastic, but we do not have the access. Many people do not have the access to the innovative drugs that are coming to market. In particular, I am thinking of lecanemab, which is privately available in Ireland but, of course, costs thousands of euro and is only available to those who can afford it. That is wrong. We need to change that. I know there is a cost associated with this but we need to make sure we can actually extend the quality of life of people with dementia in the years to come.

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