Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The dental treatment scheme is on the verge of collapse right across the State. Some 200 dentists have left the scheme this year alone and more than one third have left the scheme since 2016. Despite knowing that the scheme is on the verge of collapse, neither the Minister nor the Taoiseach has done anything to deal with it.

I will give the Taoiseach an example of what is happening right across the State. In Drogheda, we could find only one dentist who is still accepting patients with medical cards. That is in an area with a population of more than 40,000. I will outline to the Taoiseach how the situation is affecting ordinary people on the ground. A constituent who had mouth cancer and an operation last year, who is insulin-dependent, cannot get an appointment, although he urgently needs one. Another kidney transplant patient, who is losing her teeth, cannot get an appointment.

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