Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Select Committee on Health
Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 38 - Department of Health (Revised)
2:00 am
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
It is an area I am concerned about. There is a motion in the Seanad today, tabled by Fine Gael Senators, which raises this important concern. Notwithstanding fees to provide public dental having gone up from, I think, €44 million to €69 million and there having been more appointments, it is not meeting the need. From a whole-of-government perspective, between us and the Department of Social Protection a total of €230 million is spent annually but I appreciate the problem the Deputy raises and it is a matter of concern for me. Our biggest issue is that, notwithstanding the increase in fees, dentists are not as interested as they were in performing this work. We are trying to find ways to employ dentists and provide a different programme. There were 240 dentists in the HSE oral healthcare service in 2024, compared to 256 in 2020 and 330 in 2005. It is going in the wrong direction and we have significant work to do on this but it has to be an area of attraction. I might speak to the Deputy more about it. I have private views about it.
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