David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. Will he consider visiting the Cork university dental school and hospital as soon as he can? I am alarmed to discover that funding will be invested in the old building, which has been described as frail, constrained and ill equipped. What is really needed, as I am sure the Minister will agree, is a new building. Planning permission was granted for it, and it was full steam ahead. Because of Covid, inflation and so on, it did not go ahead, but the need remains and has increased. We have a long list of people in the country waiting for dental procedures. We need more places. With the talk about digital dentistry, we need a modern approach. Refurbishing an old, outdated, decrepit, small and constrained building is not really the answer. I am sure the Minister would agree with me on that. I ask him to visit there shortly. They are putting €15 million into an old building that is not fit for purpose. That is surely a waste of money, and we would surely be better off making funding available and doing a right job.

See this speech in context