Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

This is an issue on which I do not see why there should be a delay. The Tánaiste announced in January that she would order dentists and doctors to display their prices, or at least that is what the headlines in the national newspapers in January said she would do. Yet there is now a complication. No more than any other service, why should there be a difficulty requiring these professions to have an indicative list of their prices?

Is the Tánaiste aware that there is a growing practice of dental tourism whereby people go abroad to have dental work done? Even in Northern Ireland, dental procedures, in some instances, are a fraction of the cost charged in the Republic. Does the Tánaiste agree that, particularly in the area of dentistry, real competition is required and that it will necessitate transparency in terms of understanding prices? If she agrees there is no transparency in that market at present, what specifically will she do?

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