Mr. Fintan Hourihan:

We will. To explain further, the consequence of not recognising the specialties in the case of what we have just been discussing with regard to special care patients or children is that the HSE cannot employ specialists or consultants if there is no legal recognition of the specialty. That is a huge drawback in the public service. If it was undone and they were recognised, it would unleash significant potential for the service to develop. We know there are excellent, highly trained paediatric dentists and special care dentists, primarily in the UK, who would come back to work in Ireland. It means that patients know that people who present themselves as specialists are actually specialists. If people are specialists in root canals, gum treatments, or whatever else, there is a verifiable qualification or specialist division which confirms that to the patient, because the person in the street does not know whether somebody is an expert or not.