Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy referenced a 70% reduction. In the county where I live there has been a 100% collapse. There has been no dentist for a considerable period of time. I raise it at every meeting, as Mr. Mulvany will confirm. There is absolutely no dentist who will take on a patient under the medical card scheme. There is one dentist who still has a handful of people on medical cards. That is the last one, and he is definitely not taking on any new ones. There is nowhere to go. Has the Department considered employing dentists directly in a situation like that? Can another couple of dentists be employed to fill that gap?