Mr. Fintan Hourihan:

To distinguish from medical doctors, who are paid on a capitation basis, dentists are paid on a fee-per-item basis. The total bill reflects the number of dentists participating in the scheme and the number of patients who present to the dentist who are eligible for treatment. The reason there is less money is there are fewer dentists participating and fewer patients are able to access a dentist. That results in less spending. The impact of the Covid pandemic could not be discounted but there is clear evidence where many dentists have said that now they are managing without the State contract, they intend to continue that way. The concern I have is that as we are all vaccinated and as the pandemic lifts, this will be an ongoing issue in the absence of any intervention. To answer the Deputy's question, it reflects fewer dentists and fewer patients being able to access the dentists because there are fewer dentists participating.