I acknowledge Jordan and Cian for coming here for the statements. Helen is here also, along with Jordan's wife Agnes and their dad who has been such a major part of the journey so far. Deputy Sherlock said they are an inspiration. They have been an inspiration to us in Ireland, in bringing the area of dementia to the floor of our national Parliament. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, and the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for making sure these statements happened prior to the summer recess. When I think of dementia I think of my mother, Eilish. It was mentioned that about 30 cases are diagnosed per day. My mother was one of those 30 cases and I remember the day, a day I will never forget, when we were told. I still vividly remember during the Covid pandemic when I went to visit her with my son and, for the first time, she did not recognise me. That was a difficult day, but she got the best of care in St. Joseph's care centre in Longford. When we were hit with the news as a family, I chatted with my brother and sister and the first phone call we made was to Breda Dunne, the Alzheimer Society of Ireland representative in Longford, Eileen Kilbride and everyone there. We got comfort from talking to someone who knew it, lived it every day and worked in that area. I will always be grateful for their compassion. I also thank the members of the ASI in the Gallery today for all the work they do. I look forward to working with the group led by George and Fiona under the tutelage of their new chairperson, Cathy Reynolds, another proud Longford woman who has done so much in this area in memory of her late mam and her dad, Albert Reynolds. Earlier we were looking at the portrait of Albert Reynolds in the Taoiseach's gallery. I look forward to working with the group. I also think today of Mary Brazil in Ballinamuck who is Cathy's mam's cousin whom I know quite well. We think of her and her family. I know two of her siblings and her dad both died at a very young age. I ask the Minister of State to support the ASI, and I know he will. We have a briefing document and that has been spelled out. I will not repeat the requests made but they are needed. People with Alzheimer's and their families throughout the country deserve to be supported by the State. Statutory home care is in the programme for Government. It is something we have been working on for a number of years. I look forward to progressing that over the term of this Government so that we can have it in place. I also acknowledge the carers who look after our loved ones at home. I know we have had a big jump in the carer's allowance only in the last number of days with the change to the income disregard. It is in the programme for Government that we will get to a point where we will financially look after those who care for our loved ones. We also need to look at the area of research. We need to put the supports in place. We need to support families, persons with dementia and the dementia organisations. We also need to continue to invest in research to stop this condition being so prevalent. Some programmes are in place in the UK and some families from Ireland are travelling to the UK to take part in studies. I would like that research to take place here in Ireland as well. In the budget we need to provide tax breaks or incentives to incentivise companies to invest the necessary resources in further research so that we can stop this disease or give longer life and a better quality to anyone who may acquire the condition. We want to get to a point where we will have a drug available and that nobody will get FTD. We need to get to a point where we have a drug for dementia that will provide a quality of life. That needs to happen sooner rather than later. I ask the Government to support the ASI in its demands. We should put in place financial supports through the budget to support companies to do the research here to find the drugs that can stop this disease which takes so many of our loved ones away. Once again, I use the word inspiration. That is what Jordan, Cian, Helen, Agnes and their dad have been to people in this country. We are here to support them on the journey as it goes forward.

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