Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this important motion on the totally unacceptable lack of dentistry services in Ireland. The motion lays bare the damning statistics, which I will not repeat. They are stark. If there was only one recommendation I would ask the Government to put in place from this motion, it would be to commit to providing the required funding in budget 2025 to put the medical card scheme on a sustainable footing. The other recommendations are really important but, to me, this is a core one.

Normally when I speak, I cite lots of statistics to make the case for change and I will give the House some statistics from Sligo-Leitrim in a minute or two. Today I want to give an example of the many emails I have received which tell of the utter frustration and disbelief of parents as they seek dental care for their children who are attending primary school. My constituent wrote to me in relation to the matter of dental care for primary school children. Having contacted the dental department in Markievicz House that morning, the person was informed that unless children require urgent dental treatment, they will not be seen through the public system. The response was that children will be seen in sixth class and the dental department is currently working through a backlog of last year's primary school leavers. My constituent was informed that unless children require emergency dental treatment, the guidance is to go private as there are insufficient staff due to a number of retirements. This parent then asked if appointments for secondary school students could be made and was told they could be made only if additional treatments were required from the sixth class appointment. If children do not get the treatment in the first place, they cannot receive treatment afterwards because the system failed them in the first place. This is what is happening.

After receiving a number of these emails, we contacted the HSE. One response told us that the HSE targets children in key school years, second, fourth and sixth class, offering dental examinations, preventative care and so on. However, that is simply not happening. We got a second response from the HSE which actually tells us what is happening in reality. It tells us that in Sligo and Leitrim there has been a significant reduction in the numbers of participating dental contractors, with only one contractor providing care for medical card patients under the DTSS in County Leitrim. It tells us that Sligo and Leitrim HSE dental services now receive multiple requests for emergency care every day as patients are unable to access care with a DTSS contractor and there is no option of redirecting patients to alternative contractors due to the ever-increasing number of resignations from the service. There is no service and that is why I fully support the motion from the Social Democrats.

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