Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Hourihan for his very comprehensive presentation. I want to touch on one or two points. Was there a dental officer in the Department of Health previously? How long is it since that individual has gone?

With regard to being financially innovative given the current budgetary constraints, a colleague of Mr. Hourihan’s was in contact with me recently to outline the system being introduced in the United States, which does not necessarily require the presence of a dentist. A dental nurse is in attendance and scanning and cloud computing are used, with the data being transmitted to a centre to be reviewed by qualified dental practitioners, who can then identify which cases need to be followed up. It is about the effective use of money. The person who was in contact with me goes to nursing homes rather than having residents in those homes come to the dental surgery. Thus, dental care can be provided within nursing homes. This is a time in which we need to be innovative and determine how to obtain value for money while at the same time providing a comprehensive service. We must ensure dental practitioners are remunerated adequately for the work they are doing.

I do not know whether we have done much work on education on dental care. It does not appear to be a priority within the Department. If there is no dental expert within the Department, the whole education programme automatically falls down. Perhaps the delegates could comment on the position on education and how Ireland compares with other EU countries, the United States and other countries within the OECD. Although we talk about education in regard to health issues, I am not sure whether we do so in regard to dental issues. How far behind other countries are we?