Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Hourihan for his opening statement. It paints a stark picture of oral healthcare. Anyone reading it would realise that the oral healthcare system is in a state of chassis. The witnesses can correct me if I am wrong, but the public oral healthcare system was in better shape 25 years ago than it is now. As Mr. Hourihan stated, that has a knock-on effect in the context of socioeconomic factors. One can gauge people's socioeconomic circumstances by the state of their oral health. This is stark. What has happened, and this is true of all aspects of the public health system, is there is a two-tier system in the context of oral healthcare. People will lose out on access to intervention at particular times.

What is the status of the school screening programme? It is a key factor in terms of proper intervention but there is a lag. In order to have a proper screening programme such that children can get proper intervention, what do we need to put in place in the next two to three years to catch up with that lag?