Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In an emergency situation, people should get in touch with the HSE, which will do several things. The first thing it will do is contact dentists who are on the scheme in the area and try to arrange emergency care or an emergency visit. In an extreme situation, the care can be provided directly by a HSE dentist. However, there is a very limited number of HSE dentists and they are spending most of their time treating children, for example. That is the direct answer in terms of emergency care.

The Deputy comes from a commercial background. If she saw an organisation that had an increase in its revenue of more than 50% in one year or saw revenue going into an organisation increasing from €40 million to €66 million, I think, in fairness, the Deputy would call that a substantial increase. So let us not dismiss an increase in funding in one year from €40 million to €66 million.

See this speech in context