Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have been contacted by several constituents who have received letters from their dentists stating that the latter are withdrawing from the medical card scheme. This appears to be widespread. I have heard from dentists who have told me that the issue of personal protective equipment, PPE, is the straw that broke the camel's back. They say that the dental treatment services scheme, DTSS, has not been increased since 2007, is a sham and is not fit for purpose. Practice owners will survive without the medical card scheme, but dental nurses and associate dentists will not have jobs and patients will not have free dental treatment. Many practices donated PPE to the HSE and others in the early stages of the Covid pandemic on the understanding that it would be returned to them, but that did not happen. They say that the scheme is collapsing. Will these issues be addressed as a matter of urgency?

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