Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will make two points specifically on the DTSS. The first is that the fee structure did not keep pace with inflation and we saw a lot of dentists leave the scheme as a result. There are issues related to the administrative burden of the scheme but they have been a factor for a long time. In response to that, we significantly increased the fees paid to dentists, by between 40% and 60% per item. We did that in a single year. Any dentist who chooses to leave the DTSS can do so, and dentists can also choose to rejoin it. When we discussed this recently in the Chamber, one Member of the House gave an example of a constituent whom a dentist refused to treat under the DTSS and when the person came back some time later in agony, the dentist agreed to do the treatment privately. I do not believe that is acceptable behaviour from the dentist. The State has a role to play. We are significantly increasing fees. There are two parties to this arrangement. It is not acceptable for dentists to pull out of the scheme and refuse to treat patients under a publicly funded scheme but then to be willing to take their money some time later as private patients.

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