Mr. Pat Healy:

That is acknowledged and Dr. Green has said that. From the HSE's point of view, it is clear there is a particularly enduring problem in orthodontics. There has been a recruitment and retention issue. Dr. Green and the team involved have done significant work on trying to bring forward solutions to improve capacity. He has gone through that. The workforce planning element is important. The idea of the orthodontic therapist could make a contribution. It has to be acknowledged that the points the Deputy makes are understood. A lot has been done to try to address the capacity position to improve the situation for the service users who are waiting. We prioritise the highest number. There are 18,000 in treatment at present. That is not adequate. There are another 18,000 on the waiting list. That is fully understood. A significant amount of work has been done by the profession and the clinical lead, Dr. Green, to try to make proposals to deal with this. That is what we will try to do.