Mr. Fintan Hourihan:

We know what is on the waiting lists and we can probably estimate from that what level of funding is required to meet the waiting lists. However, there is a lot of unmet need as well. The solution would be to enhance the screening service to avoid greater numbers of orthodontic problems emerging that could otherwise have been mitigated. Clearly, however, if there are people on the lists, they are waiting for treatment. It would require investment in a treatment purchase fund or some equivalent to try to clear that list. We know what the list looks like in terms of numbers. We could probably extrapolate from that what funding would be required. I just do not have that figure off the top of my head.