Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

My question relates to the lack of a school dental programme in County Monaghan. I submitted a parliamentary question on this and the response I got was very disturbing, to be honest. We all know that in all areas of health care, early intervention is crucial. Prevention is preferable to treatment. Issues identified early allow for less intensive or invasive treatment. It is positive to introduce and reinforce positive dental hygiene and care from an early age. Dental is among the most basic of health services, so the Minister of State will appreciate my shock to receive a response from the HSE to a parliamentary question which outlined that no children in County Monaghan received a dental check-up in the last academic year. Actually, shocked does not go far enough; I was disgusted, to be honest. The HSE informed me that the reason for this was staff retirements, maternity leaves and the paucity of dentists available nationally. It is not too much for the people of Monaghan to ask the Minister that this service would be put in place immediately. Retirements are generally foreseeable and should not lead to collapse in the services. Maternity leave is a fairly common life experience which should not leave to a collapse in the service. Will the Minister of State ensure that the people of County Monaghan get their routine dentistry requirements and check-ups in national school?

It is also a question of accountability for the HSE and the Government on this matter. This scandal that no children in County Monaghan are receiving dental check-ups has brought both me and the Minister of State into the House this morning. What has brought us to this point is a broader mismanagement and, given the latest revelation, I would say maladministration of our dental services. At the heart of the issue is Government's failure to train enough dentists and overreliance on private dentists who are under no obligation to deliver this critical public service. To go from 770 children in 2021 who did receive routine check-ups to zero children last year in County Monaghan who received a dental check-up, leaving 832 children on a waiting list, is undeniably a collapse of the service. Does the Minister of State accept that there has been another collapse in the HSE school-linked dental programme in County Monaghan? What is she going to do about it and when is she going to do it? How many children in Monaghan will receive a check-up in this academic year?

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