Mr. Fintan Hourihan:

We wrote to look for a meeting with the Minister following the publication of the policy. That was just over a month ago. There were a number of occasions when meetings were arranged but, for genuine reasons, they did not proceed because the Minister was caught up in controversies here at the time. I have detailed a list of all the submissions we have made in the past few years.

We made regular pre-budget submissions from 2014 to 2018, as well as submissions to the Sláintecare project. We also made submissions to this committee in 2013 on issues regarding the draft medical contract for general practitioners as well as countless other submissions. We have published a number of documents regarding our efforts in the area of oral health. Dr. Marley mentioned an event which happened in Limerick in 2015. We were present at it, but I draw a distinction between what I call "tick-box consultation" and meaningful consultation.

The HSE has a good document on managing change. It states there are three principles, namely, discuss, design and deliver. That is a very good model. We have not been involved in the discussions regarding this new strategy but we want to be involved in the design and we certainly want to be involved in the delivery. That is because the dentists we represent are the people who will be expected to carry out that delivery. I cannot speculate on the motivation of the Department of Health, but I am sure it will explain its approach. Two documents were published, however, including one containing more than 50 pages, which is being circulated widely, and another 160-page document detailing in an appendix all of the groups and individuals who helped in respect of the strategy. It is notable that only one dental general practitioner is mentioned.

I will point out that we did make submissions and we published a document as recently as last September. That has not been acknowledged or referenced. We also developed a document as far back as 2013, in conjunction with the college faculty and the two dental schools. I do not believe that has been acknowledged either. I cannot speculate on why the Department did not engage with us fully. In response to the question posed, we are interested and we want to be involved from this point on.