Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Page 55 of the programme for Government commits to timely access to orthodontic care. More than 7,500 children who availed of public orthodontic services in Dublin are to have their files reviewed. Many of these children were left irreversibly damaged after services were withdrawn in the mid-1990s. A report commissioned in February 2015 found that patient safety was put at risk and recommended a wider review, which is now under way. Experts at the time worked under the agreement that the report would be published in full, but that has not happened. In reply to a parliamentary question tabled by Deputy O'Reilly in December 2018, the Minister committed to releasing an update on this issue in February 2019. It is now April 2019, but no report has been published to date. Will the Minister, Deputy Harris, publish the 2015 report and the wider review in full? Will he give a date for publication? If not, why not?

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