Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)

I will move on to the issue of dental services. The number of EU dental students going through our universities is the same in 2025 as it was 20 years ago. We have not grown the number of dental places. I raised this three or four months ago and the Irish Dental Association also raised it. We now have a major problem. We had 1,452 dentists providing care for public patients but that dropped to approximately 800 a year ago, and my understanding is that it may now be down as low as 500. For example, in Sligo, there is only one dentist providing care for public patients. In Kerry, most of the dentists are no longer providing care for public patients. Has there been engagement between the Department of Health and the Department of higher education about growing the number of places available for Irish or EU students in our dental colleges? Even if we did that in the morning, it would still take us five years before we see them coming out. It is a major issue. In our schools, the number of dental care reviews being carried out has dropped by over 40% in the last eight years. What are we doing in this regard? It is a core issue.