Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy and acknowledge his ongoing advocacy in terms of dental services, particularly the children's services and the school-based programme. There have been challenges and children have been waiting too long. A good deal of the delay came about through Covid and the HSE is still in the process of catch-up. The Government invests over €200 million into oral healthcare services annually. To the points the Deputy has made around the waiting list, an additional €17 million in one-off funding has been invested in the lifetime of this Government.

I fully acknowledge that we need to do more. In the budget we announced this week, I have allocated €4 million in full-year funding, including €2 million next year, to continue the implementation of the national oral health policy. This investment is going to provide an additional 15 dental staff across dentists and dental nurses to deliver the oral healthcare in our community and support children to access the current primary school programme of routine check-ups. The investment will also initiate delivery of a three-year implementation plan for the policy. Reform of our services is really important to ensure people of all ages get access to the care they need.

The Deputy has previously raised orthodontics and the need for more support there. I am happy to say the investments we have been putting in over recent years are now yielding results. Last year we transferred more than 2,000 children nationally to private care, so they got care quicker. From the Deputy's own constituency of Cavan-Monaghan, 128 children were transferred to this care. The number who are waiting the longest to start treatment has declined nationally and continues to decline. The HSE and our oral health professionals will use that €4 million now to continue to push on, making sure these children get access to the interventions, check-ups and treatment they need in a timely manner.

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