Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Nolan for his presentation and congratulate him on his appointment. I wish him every success in it. Can I flag up two issues with him in view of his presentation? If I am out of order the Chairman may say so. In his submission, Mr. Nolan said it is important to ensure that there is equivalence of treatment for all those eligible for health service-provided dental care in the State regardless of the setting in which it is provided. It is an interesting quote. I have on file a letter concerning someone who was assessed for orthodontic treatment on 11 May 2011. The case is in the Cork area. I received a letter from the HSE stating that the average waiting time is three and a half years. If one adds three and a half years to May 2011 it would bring us to November 2014.

When I replied that the person had not been seen within that three and a half year period, I got another letter yesterday morning to say that three and a half years is an average. I was told that if someone has a real emergency, they should get a report from a psychologist and the HSE might then be able to give it priority. The case concerns a young person and I made the point that the delay was having a huge effect on the child. After receiving that letter, I went through another source yesterday evening to find that the file for that person has been in an archive since 2009. This is an appalling way for a service to be operating, although I know it is not in Mr. Nolan's area.

I have another document wherein someone made a submission to me about orthodontic treatment. While a person needs to have an initial assessment by an orthodontist, a lot of the work orthodontists are doing could be farmed out to qualified dental surgeons. An awful lot of work is staying under the control of orthodontists, which is unnecessary. I know this is a learning process from Mr. Nolan's point of view, but does he think he can deal with these areas? In view of his quotation that it is important to ensure that there is equivalence of treatment for all those eligible for health service-provided dental care, how does he see his own role in helping to alleviate the problem that currently exists, especially concerning orthodontic treatment and giving advice to the Minister on the matter?