3803. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Health the availability of cognitive stimulation therapy programmes for people living with dementia in each CHO area; the number of participants who accessed such programmes in the past year; and whether additional funding will be provided to expand access nationally. [63043/26]

As Minister of State with responsibility for Older People and Housing, I am fully committed to supporting people with dementia and their families by focusing on the expansion of dementia diagnostic and community-based services in line with the Programme for Government commitments on dementia.

New Government funding has been allocated annually since 2021 to increase the availability of dementia community-based services. The Department of Health and the HSE work in partnership with The Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI) on an ongoing basis to strengthen the delivery of high-quality community-based supports for people living with dementia and their families.

In Budget 2026, an additional €2.27 million in funding was allocated for dementia, bringing the total new investment in dementia to €21.27 million since 2021. The 2026 funding included €700,000 for the ASI for additional dementia advisers, day care services and day care at home. It also included €270,000 to fully fund the National Dementia Registry, €300,000 to improve access to diagnostic scans, and approximately €1 million to address the full year cost of 6 consultant posts for Memory Assessment and Support Services.

The requests set out by ASI in their pre-budget submission, which include the expansion of Maintenance Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (MCST) will be considered as part of the wider budgetary and policy context of the 2027 estimates process.

The availability of, and number of participants in, cognitive stimulation therapy programmes are service-related matters and I have therefore asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy on these as soon as possible.