Mr. Fintan Hourihan:

Yes. Dr. Robins has addressed this, but the whole purpose of screening is to see the child early, have a discussion with the child, examine the child and offer advice. In many cases, hopefully, this is simply dietary advice. In some cases, it will require referral for treatment. If someone is not being seen until sixth class or in secondary school, a lot of the problems that could have been tackled early on are only identified at a late stage. That means, as Dr. Robins said, people will have their children referred in to have teeth extracted. In the case of orthodontic work, the problem can sometimes be so severe it makes orthodontic work difficult. The essence of dentistry is prevention. That is why the system was set up in 1994. It was a good and progressive policy, so that all children were supposed to be seen at three different intervals before the age of 12. That has clearly fallen away. It is largely not because of any change of policy, but there are not enough dentists in the HSE to do it.