An apparatus and method are provided for opportunistically performing scrubbing operations on a memory device. The apparatus is used for accessing the memory device in response to access requests issued by at least one requesting device and comprises interface circuitry that is configured to access the memory device in response to the access requests. The apparatus also comprises activity monitoring circuitry which generates memory access activity data that results from memory access activity between the interface circuitry and the memory device. Scrubbing circuitry is also included and is configured to issue scrubbing access requests to perform the scrubbing operations, the scrubbing access requests being issued in response to the memory access activity data indicating a trigger condition. The above apparatus allows scrubbing access requests to be issued taking into account actual memory access activity between the interface circuitry and the memory device, thereby allowing the access requests to be issued opportunistically in such a way that the performance cost/system power consumption necessary to achieve a particular reliability can be reduced compared to known techniques.