Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the fact that we are running into some real difficulties with the DTSS, with many dentists pulling out of the scheme and concentrating solely on private practice. It is worth pointing out that the number of registered dentists in Ireland is at its highest ever level, at 3,472 in total. That is 153 more dentists than this time last year.

Regarding DTSS access in County Mayo, HSE figures indicate that there are currently 45,418 patients eligible for the service in the county and 21 contractors in County Mayo submitted claims to the HSE for payments in 2023. Comparing claims submitted in County Mayo from January to June with the same period in 2022, an additional €250,000 was paid out to dentists, an additional 341 patients were seen and an additional 2,276 treatments were provided. There has, therefore, been an increase this year on last year. At least, that is what the figures indicate.

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