Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have one last comment. I take well Mr. Nolan's noting of the points that Senator Burke made. I say to him only that the committee has addressed a number of issues within the whole dental field in the past 12 months in particular. The whole area of regulation is very important to us. We have significant issues around non-registered practitioners, a number of whom have been exposed across the State, including in this city in the recent past. The Dental Council is apparently unable to effectively deal with this because it can only deal with those who are registered with it. Somebody who establishes a practice but who is not registered does not come under its remit. There seems to be a difficulty there in terms of the legislative provision. I understand that there is a review of legislation in relation to dental practice across the board.

Finally, I note that we are also anxious to see dental technicians upgrade to clinical dental technicians in order to allow them quite properly to deal with members of the public rather than only with those who are dental practitioners; that is dentists. It is also important that people who are not clinical dental technicians do not engage with members of the public as they are not entitled to do so. There are, regrettably, several instances known of this practice taking place, which is unacceptable. Regulation is critical and these are matters that will, perhaps, come before Mr. Nolan in this new position. I hope the joint committee can be of assistance in highlighting or reflecting on any of these points to him at any time. As I said earlier, I wish Mr. Nolan well in his new position.