Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Rourke for the opportunity to address the matter of dental and occupational therapy services provided by the HSE in Celbridge and Maynooth. The public dental service of the HSE treats children up to the age of 16 and persons of all ages with special needs at its dental clinics. This is an operational matter for the HSE, which has advised that a modernisation plan for the dental service in CHO 7 will create a larger, modern and more appropriate dental location for north County Kildare, based in Celbridge. The new location will service the current Maynooth and Celbridge clinics and the previous clinic in Leixlip, which is now closed.

The Celbridge clinic closed in June 2018 for refurbishment in order to enable it to comply with new regulations. The refurbishment is on the HSE capital programme and is a priority for CHO 7. The contract for the refurbishment work was put out to tender and tender returns are currently being reviewed by HSE Estates. The HSE capital plan for 2019 is being finalised. Funding will be dependent on the capital available and competing priorities. Currently, the Maynooth clinic is operating five days a week. The dentist in the surgery is due to retire in September. The HSE is engaged in recruitment to replace dental staff. It is intended that the services provided in Maynooth will be relocated to Celbridge after the clinic in Celbridge is refurbished and reopened. There will be no loss of service to patients as a result of the move. While the dental clinic in Celbridge is closed, all patients are being offered services as close as possible to Celbridge. Routine dental services are being provided in the HSE dental clinics in Naas while emergency services are available from all HSE dental clinics located across the dental area, as per normal. The HSE is actively monitoring this service and will ensure that all patients will continue to be offered appointments.

With regard to occupational therapy, OT, services, I can assure the Deputy that both the adult and paediatric services continue to be based in Celbridge and Maynooth primary care centres. The HSE advises that all priority 1 adult cases are seen within five days in both Celbridge and Maynooth, although there is an accepted need to do more to reduce waiting times for children both locally and nationally. Service improvements in occupational therapy delivery include a number of health promotion groups running in Celbridge primary care centre, while staff from the OT department are working closely with parents in a new three-tiered approach which involves more parent coaching sessions.

In Maynooth, the OT department is reviewing the model of service delivery to include consultation, universal education and support, including drop-in clinics and home programmes, where appropriate, and a targeted approach for children where individualised intervention is indicated on assessment. I can advise the Deputy that there is a funding allocation in 2019 for the recruitment of 170 community nursing and therapy posts. Included in that, are 40 occupational therapy posts. The allocation of the posts will be determined following consultation with the CHOs.

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