Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Independent and Parties Technical Group for bringing forward this motion on this very important matter. This Government is utterly failing in terms of dental services. The Minister's role is to provide a framework in which services can reliably and efficiently be delivered and to adequately fund these services. As I see it, the Minister is utterly failing. Of the 200,000 schoolchildren eligible for dental screening appointments, only half received what they were entitled to. Blaming the pandemic might have flown in its aftermath, but at some point the Minister must accept that her job is to address this backlog and not to make excuses for it.

Despite the increase in population, the Irish Dental Association tells us we have 23% fewer public dentists than we had 15 years ago. What have Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael done that they have overseen the collapse in the school screening programme? At the same time, they have fostered an environment that has seen the number of dentists participating in the scheme to provide care to medical card holders decrease by 50% in just eight years, despite warnings from across this House. In County Monaghan, for example, as of May 2024, nearly 40% of whole-time-equivalent hours for dentistry positions were vacant. Last month, the one consultant orthodontist post in the region was also vacant, as were both specialist orthodontist posts. This is utterly scandalous and stands as another testament to the failure of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in terms of dental services in counties like Monaghan. When will the promised dental services plan be brought forward to address the situation? The truth is that free dental services for children up to the age of 16 do not exist.

See this speech in context