Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome any news that will help to bring about an increase in the service. The key trends documentation for 2024 mentions that spending on health almost doubled between 2014 and 2023, and this is reflected in the enhanced availability of services throughout the country. Why, then, do we see only half the expected number of dentists participating in the scheme? The number is not reflected in the figures. If we increase the number of dentists in this scheme, it will have to be through contact and talks with the Irish Dental Association, which I do not see mentioned in the Minister of State’s reply. I would like it to happen because the association has been calling this out for a long time.

The Minister of State referred to more money having been invested in 2024, but that is not reflected on the ground. It is not what I was hearing at any of the doors during the local and general election campaigns last year. Every single person we met who needed the services said they were not getting them.

I welcome the commitments. The Minister of State's ministerial predecessors were members of her party and her coalition partner’s party, and their record is nothing short of disgraceful. Therefore, I hope that in her new role, the current Minister of State’s record will be a better one for the affected people.

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