Mr. Fintan Hourihan:

We believe intrinsically in the school screening service. The problem is there are not enough dentists to ensure children are seen when they should be seen. The announcement of €5 million carried a number of terms and involved conditions from the HSE or directed to the HSE. It could not take on additional staff but, rather, only use the money to ask volunteers, who are already overstretched, to do additional work. It is a good scheme. What is required is more dentists in the public service.