Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I fully understand where the Deputy is coming from in relation to any person having difficulty accessing dental care. It is clearly set out in the statement, "The HSE is required to support the provision of emergency care to adult medical card holders who have difficulty accessing a local dentist."

Access to dental care, including for adult medical card holders, is a top priority for the Minister and Government. The Minister has made substantial additional investment in oral healthcare services in recent years. In addition to more than €200 million the Government invests in public oral healthcare services annually, €17 million in one-off funding has been invested since 2019-2020 to address service backlogs.

The national oral health policy, Smile agus Sláinte, highlights the need for strategic workforce planning to ensure a sufficient number of appropriately trained oral healthcare professionals, to include dentists, dental hygienists, dental nurses and other auxiliary grades. Maximising the contribution of all our oral healthcare professionals and allowing them work at the top of their licence is central to Smile agus Sláinte and to increasing services.

It is heartening to note we have more registered dentists in Ireland than ever before. There are 3,652 registered dentists, which is an additional 177 since March 2023. This reflects positive trends, with the comparative figure being 3,217 in 2018. That is an increase of more than 400 dentists.

The Minister supports the creation of additional capacity in higher education, including in oral healthcare. The Higher Education Authority is undertaking a process to identity a set of options to achieve this important step towards health workforce sustainability for Ireland. I am confident that, working with the dental profession and other stakeholders in line with their respective roles and responsibilities, the goals of this policy will be met.

I accept there is a need to increase the output of dentists from third-level colleges. It is not only dentists but also dental hygienists and all of that area that needs to increase because we have an increasing population. It is important to note there has been an increase in the number of dentists available to provide a service in this country. Let us keep working towards increasing it further.

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