James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I should like to put on the record of the House the fact that I am informed that Navan hospital is not over budget, in response to my last question that was dealt with by the Minister.

In regard to this issue, the Minister will forgive me if I read out a section of a report from the Dental Protection Ireland. Dental Protection Ireland, DPL, the specialist risk management group, has raised concerns about a memo from a HSE senior dental manager sent to dentists working in community clinics indicating that the agency's policy is that dentists are instructed not to provide routine fillings for deciduous, or baby, teeth. The expert advice sought by DPL contradicted the HSE's policy rationale, citing a recent study based on a sample of nearly 7,000 five-year-old children in Scotland, the findings of which did not support a policy of non-intervention for primary teeth. The expert advice stated that dental caries left untreated are likely to progress to a stage which causes pain and suffering for children and said a general policy of non-intervention was "wrong and unjustifiable".

Other claims offered as policy rationale by the HSE were similarly disputed by the expert advice, which concluded that the main issue that had driven the policy was the lack of resources, which was mentioned by the senior dental manager in the memo. Damningly, the expert said that there was no evidence in the dental literature to support this approach and that it would expose children to serious risk of pain and discomfort, and - even worse - abscesses, sepsis and hospitalisation.

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