Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a couple of questions. First, I welcome the fact that an oral health unit has been established. There seems to be some sort of movement in relation to that and that is positive. It is also positive that the representatives spoke about a new pathway for people from outside the EU for the assessment, etc. They gave the numbers. Again, that is a positive movement.

The worrying thing is the fact that the last time the witnesses were before the committee we had been speaking about how there was a major concern regarding the medical card scheme. The last time we had the Minister before the committee about this, and this was possibly two years ago, he said he had been expecting substantial movement. I think that was the phrase he used in relation to the roll-out. Clearly, that has not happened. In the few minutes that we have left, could the representatives focus on that? What are the problems? There has been an increase in funding. What other additional elements will bring this scheme together? I think this question was asked, but when was the last time the Irish Dental Association formally met with the Minister on these issues?