Michael Harty (Clare, Independent)
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To go back to what Deputy Cullinane was saying, there is significant dissatisfaction among the public, including parents of children who have to wait for a prolonged period. Quite often, there is no knowing when one will be seen. A person is put on a waiting list but he or she has no idea whether he or she will be seen in one year, two years, three years or five years. That creates great anxiety among patients. As a consequence, patients end up borrowing, stealing or remortgaging their houses and putting themselves at great financial risk to obtain privately the service that should be provided through the public system but is not. They may have two or three children who need orthodontic treatment, not just one. This puts them under serious financial pressure. That is the issue. The policy is fine and the intention to change it is fine, but the practical reality, as Deputy Cullinane said, is that the lists are growing rather than reducing.