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

One of my constituents contacted me last week. She is a medical card holder. She has a severe toothache and has been in pain for six months. She requires a wisdom tooth extracted, which has been referred to a dentist who is a specialist in that. The other day she rang to see where she was on the list. This is six months later, with five infections and five doses of antibiotics. If she were to pay, she could jump the queue. As a medical card holder, if she could afford to pay she would have done so, but she cannot afford to do so. This dentist is totally wrong. This should be provided on the basis of need, not the ability to pay. Our health system and our dental system should be on that basis, so-----

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