Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy O'Shea. As he is aware, over €230 million is invested in public oral healthcare services annually. The dental treatment service scheme, DTSS, provides oral healthcare free of charge to medical card holders aged 16 and over. Services are provided by private dentists and clinical dental technicians who hold a contract with the HSE.

In the north Cork HSE area, there are currently 33 active DTSS contractors, which is up slightly from the 31 who were active in the same period in 2024, although it is not enough. A package of measures was introduced in 2022 to expand the care available under the DTSS and to significantly increase the fees paid to contractors by approximately 40%, which is a very significant increase. Those measures should improve access to care as indicated by patient and treatment numbers which, to be fair, have increased since 2022.

The Department and the HSE are committed to the reform of services for medical card holders, particularly in the context of the design and development of packages for expanded preventative care. That will require a multi-annual programme of work which is currently being scoped by the Department. We are also trying to improve patient access to oral healthcare in a number of different ways through the implementation of the national oral health policy, which is a complete transformation of oral healthcare services and an expansion to children and adults. I am very focused on the deficits that are there today, particularly for children. There is a three-year implementation plan for the first phase of acceleration of reforms.

When I was in Cork last week, I had the good opportunity to attend the annual conference of the Irish Dental Hygienists Association, the members of which perform enormously good preventative work, cleaning work and identifying work. I commend their work to date. Hygienists can play an important role as part of the Government's priority to improve access to preventative oral healthcare, especially for currently underserved populations including people with disabilities, people in residential homes and children in certain areas. There is a body of work there that is not yet completed but is very possible.

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