Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I accept there has been an issue with the DTSS and the contractors numbers, notwithstanding the increase in fees and the increase of 44,000 in the number of patients being treated, which is something. Nevertheless, our figures for contractor numbers have gone down very considerably, from 1,500 in 2019 to 813 in 2024. In Cork and north Cork those numbers have gone from 35 to 26. I accept that. The new policy is designed to try to reflect this and reform that service delivery. The new policy sets out detailed descriptions of envisaged service reforms, which are about prevention, routine and emergency care, and oral health evaluation. That reform of the DTSS will be impacted by this new policy. It sets out for the first time that there will be comprehensive modern and clinical infrastructure supporting oral care. The child oral health examination programme, which is delivered by HSE-employed oral healthcare professionals, is to provide examinations and treatment identified as necessary from the age of seven up to when a child is in sixth class. Emergency care is also available from the HSE for children up to the age of 16.

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