Mr. Greg Dempsey:

There are gaps in the provision of service at the moment and differences in the pathway to care but the new policy aims to deliver a new care pathway for individuals, starting at the dentist. Based on their assessment, they will go to specialist HSE facilities or, in some cases, particularly for people in residential facilities, the teams will go to them.

On eligibility, I do not know the answer to the specific question but we can get back to the Deputy on that.

With regard to a review, I would say that, overall, a new unit has been established in the Department which is undertaking a programme to consider all aspects of eligibility across the health service. That will include eligibility for medical cards. It is a big piece of work, as the Deputy can imagine, because the current eligibility framework has developed and evolved over time. This is a bottom-up approach with regard to what is the right framework to have.

On the first question, unfortunately I do not have the specific percentages. My understanding is that, as much as possible, the HSE facilities are supposed to be 100% accessible. That is our aim. I do not know if my colleagues have the answer to that question.