I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate today. I acknowledge Jordan and Cian Adams, who turned an incredibly negative experience into an extremely positive one, for the work they have done in creating awareness and advocating in this area. It is hugely welcome. Unfortunately, 69,000 people in this country are only too well aware of the affects of dementia on family life, as are their families. According to the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, ASI, in the next 20 years, that figure will more than double to 150,000 people so our debate is extremely timely. My father passed away last December and while I am extremely thankful for the long and healthy life he had, his final years were dominated by dementia. His memory diminished. His world got smaller every passing day and, sometimes, I looked into his eyes and saw absolute fear and confusion in a place that was familiar to him for so long. Just before Christmas, a home care provider in Mullingar, Dovida, had a simulator van in the town for a day. People went in, put on glasses and gloves and put spikes into their feet and, for two and a half or five minutes, they got some sense of the experience of what it is to live with dementia. After I came out of it, I do not think I was ever as scared about how people must feel all day long when they are suffering with dementia. As a community, we can do a lot more. I acknowledge the work being done in Mullingar to create a dementia-friendly town - Rosaleen Madden is doing similar work in Castlepollard - to ensure people who have dementia are welcomed in their communities, that they are recognised and that we can respond to them in an appropriate fashion. A lot of progress has been made by the Government in recent years. I acknowledge the Minister of State's predecessor, Deputy Butler, for the work she did with the ASI. There are now 62 dedicated centres open across Ireland. We want to see more. One of the things in my political record I am most proud of was working with the ASI to deliver centres in Multyfarnham and Athlone, which the Minister of State opened last year. I take the opportunity to acknowledge Ms Leanne Taitt and the team who provide incredible respite for families, but also support for the people who go to the centre on a daily basis. They have created an environment of care, compassion, security and love for the person. I will be forever grateful because that support prevented my father going into a nursing home for a long period. We need to see more of them across the country. We need to look at where the gaps are and work with the ASI to ensure they are addressed. I also acknowledge the work Ray and Eileen do in the bridge centre in Mullingar on Friday mornings, bringing families together to support them. More of that is needed because it is important, not just for the people who suffer from dementia but for their families. I have no doubt of the Minister of State's commitment in this area, but we are in the month of July and I understand he is still to met the ASI. I ask him to meet it, engage with it and work with it to ensure we, collectively as a Government, can deliver on its budget requests, to ensure we have more centres across the board and that memory clinics, such as the one in Mullingar, are adequately resourced and staffed. Deputy Whitmore spoke well about a nursing home centre in her constituency. My father was lucky to be in a good care home, but most people want to stay in their homes. The statutory home care legislation is long overdue and, collectively as a Government, we should move heaven and earth to implement it so that the necessary supports are put in place to keep people in their own homes for as long as possible.

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