Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

In fact, there are 836 contractors on the scheme as of September 2025, although that is a reduction because there was a major data clear-out. There were 1,490 in 2019, when the number was reducing, and there are now 836. A number of inactive dentists were taken off the list in 2022. I can confirm that the fees paid to private dentists to engage in this scheme have increased by 40% to 60%, depending on the nature of the treatment. It is a matter of some astonishment and some disappointment to me that more of them do not wish to engage in it. Notwithstanding that, an additional 256,000 patients have been treated since 2022. As a result of the expansion of the dental facilities in Cork North-West, for example, an additional 44,208 patients were treated in 2024 compared to 2022. I will give this data to Deputy O'Shea directly. The fees to contractors went up from €49 million to €69 million in the same two-year period. It is a very considerable expansion. Indeed, activity in north Cork has increased this year with an additional 286 treatments provided. I recognise it is not enough, but it is a very considerable expansion within a two-year period.

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