Press Release: Friday 23 May 2025
Minister O’Donnell announces commencement of National Dementia Registry
Kieran O’Donnell, TD, Minister for Older People and Housing, has today announced the commencement of implementation of a National Dementia Registry for Ireland.
Speaking at a Memory Assessment Services Symposium in Trinity College Dublin this morning, Minister O’Donnell said:
“The Programme for Government commits to developing a National Dementia Registry to map services, identify need and plan the delivery of equitable access to services. I am pleased to announce that the HSE, through National Dementia Services, the Enhanced Community Care Programme and the National Centre for Clinical Audit, has commissioned the National Centre for Clinical Audit (NOCA) to develop, implement and maintain the Registry. NOCA has extensive experience in clinical audit and registries and I am confident that this new Registry will assist us to improve dementia care quality, address service gaps, and plan services for the increasing number of people with dementia”.
The Minister continued:
“Since 2021, the Government has invested €19 million in new dementia memory assessment services and community supports for people with dementia. We want to implement the HSE Dementia Model of Care so that everyone with dementia can receive a timely diagnosis and post-diagnostic supports that enable them and their families to live as well as possible. The National Dementia Registry will support the delivery of the Model of Care and I am delighted that the development phase has begun.”
Commenting on today’s announcement, Pat Healy, HSE National Director for National Services and Schemes, said:
“As we continue our journey towards the delivery of Sláintecare, by providing the right care, at the right time, in the right place, delivered by the right people, the National Dementia Registry will be an important tool for the HSE to ensure that investment in diagnostic and community-based services is equitable and is making a difference to the care of people with dementia”.
Dr. Seán O’Dowd, Clinical Lead for National Dementia Services, also welcomed the commencement of the Registry, noting that:
“The National Dementia Registry will give us invaluable data on many aspects of the care of people with dementia, including when and where they are diagnosed, what type of dementia they have, what post-diagnostic and community supports they are getting, what medications they are taking and what their quality of life is. As well as supporting National Dementia Services and the Health Regions to plan the delivery of services, the National Dementia Registry will offer exciting opportunities for research on many aspects of dementia care and how we can improve the health and wellbeing of people living with dementia and their families.”
Majella Daly, Assistant National Director, National Centre for Clinical Audit, HSE , said:
“The National Centre for Clinical Audit aims to improve the development of an end-to-end process for clinical audit and we are delighted to see this important piece of work progressing. NOCA’s work on many Audits and Registries like the Irish Hip Fracture Database, the Irish National Audit of Stroke and the Irish Heart Attack Audit has already helped to drive improvements in care, and I am confident that the National Dementia Registry can help drive similar improvements in the diagnosis and care of people with dementia.”