Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State. It still does not deal with the issue of 500 posts that require to be filled and the fact we have fewer dentists working in the public sector than we had in 2006, from over 330 down to 254. The number of dentists in private practice who are offering public care has dropped from over 1,200 down to under 600. That is a huge drop.

I have given the figure of the number students who were reviewed. Some 104,000 eligible school children did not get access to dental screening and that is not going to improve over the next three to four years.

There is an issue in relation to UCC, which has looked for the €4.5 million since 2022. It is looking to increase the number of places along with TCD, which looking for approval for an extra 16 places. However, what is really disturbing is the fact the dental places exist in both TCD and UCC but we are providing the training for people who are from outside of Ireland and outside the European Union. It does not make sense.

The other issue I want to raise is the need to increase the number of training places for dental nurses and dental hygienists. There is no proposal to increase those, as I understand it, although I am open to correction. It is an extremely important area.

We have over 5,000 people waiting for orthodontic treatment for over three years. This has to be dealt with and it needs to be prioritised. I would ask that both Departments sit down and see how we can fast track the delivery of dental care to young people and to adults who require dental treatment who have to go under the public scheme. It is extremely important that we give priority to this issue.

See this speech in context