Eleven people in Ireland are diagnosed with dementia daily, Minister of State for Health Helen McEntee has told the Dáil.

Some 55,000 Irish people lived with the condition, she said.

“The challenge facing us is to support those who develop dementia and their families as much as we can, and in doing so to recognise a great many people can live with dementia for far longer than most people appreciate,” Ms McEntee added.

Investment

The Government accepted a Fianna Fáil Private Members' motion calling for increased investment for home care supports for people suffering from dementia.

Moving the motion in the Dáil on Wednesday night, Fianna Fáil spokeswoman on older people Mary Butler said it was an issue requiring the broadest possible consensus.

The World Health Organisation, she added, had described dementia as one of the most serious social challenges facing the world today.

Stigma

“Dementia can be extremely challenging for family care givers. And the helplessness associated by many with advance dementia brings with it a fear and a stigma which make living with dementia even worse,” Ms Butler added.

“Dementia should not mean people stop doing the things they love, but as times go by they might need support to do so.”

She said one in three people over 65 years would develop dementia and it was estimated the number of people with the condition would double in the next 20 years and treble in the next 35 years.