€14.7m grant to aid dementia sufferers

A €14.7m grant from the foundation set up by Irish-American philanthropist Chuck Feeney will help the increasing numbers of people suffering from dementia in Ireland.

Sufferers are projected to more than treble from 42,000 to 130,000 by 2030.

Mental Health Minister Kathleen Lynch yesterday said her department was “extremely grateful’’ for the grant from Atlantic Philanthropies which, she added, was forcing the Government to do at an early stage what it would have to do anyway.