Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 23 October 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters

Health and Well-being for Persons with Disabilities: Discussion

5:30 pm

Mr. Greg Dempsey:

I will start and might then hand over. I will take the questions in reverse order, if that is okay.

In respect of oral health services, we accept there are problems with the current system. We are taking actions to improve and increase the number of medical students who take the route of dentistry, and specifically to work with people with more acute needs. The Government is developing a new oral health policy, Smile agus Sláinte, and that policy has two goals: to provide the supports to enable every individual to achieve their personal best oral health and to reduce oral health inequalities across the population by enabling vulnerable groups to access and improve oral health. As part of that, we envisage developing a new contract with dentists to attract more individuals to that profession, which we believe will help with the demand.