Professor Brian O'Connell:

I cannot speak for those bodies. Nevertheless, on the policy, there is significant agreement on most of the areas. I speak to dentists every day. Their concerns are largely about the implementation of the policy rather than the policy itself. They ask whether there will be enough funding for it, whether the entire policy will be implemented and so on. I can certainly understand those concerns, as can most of us who work in the system, given that we do not always have a great track record of funding everything properly and ensuring that all parts of it work. Ultimately, dentists, like any health professionals, want to deliver a service for the population but want to do so in a safe, sustainable way. If they start to take care of a new group of patients such as children or people with disabilities, they need back-up. If it is 4.30 p.m. on a Friday and somebody appears at a surgery with a problem, there needs to be someone who can be called and who can see the patient if it is an emergency.

Those are the main kinds of concerns that underpin much of what I have heard.