Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is no question but that should not be happening, and I will talk to the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, about it in the context of disability services. There is a clear overlap between my world of health and oral health policy, and that Minister's brief of disability services. I fully agree with the Deputy. All children should be able to get the services, but particularly those who have additional needs and may not be able to articulate those needs as well as some other children.

We are more than capable of this. During the lifetime of this Government, the general orthodontic waiting list for children has fallen by nearly half. There has been a 44% reduction in the number of children waiting on orthodontic care. We will not hear much about that - it will not be reported - but it is nearly a 50% reduction in the orthodontic list. Let us bring exactly the same determination to the children the Deputy is quite rightly talking about.

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