Mr. Fintan Hourihan:

I will make a brief comment before asking Dr. Rymer, who was involved in the scheme until recently, to respond. The positive news is that 90% of dentists want to see a State scheme operating for medical card patients. Obviously, if only one in four is in the current scheme, it suggests that people are not happy with its operation. What would it take to encourage more dentists to participate? It would take an entirely new approach. Some years ago, we commissioned research from a health economist. We put forward a proposal as to how it might operate. Dr. Rymer will tell the Senator his own reasons for leaving the scheme and the many reasons dentists have for not believing the current system is viable. In short, we would say that tweaking the existing scheme will not work. An entirely new scheme is required.