Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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8. To ask the Minister for Health the reason there is currently no orthodontic treatment in Carlow; when he expects it to be provided; and when it will be implemented. [19782/24]

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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There is currently no orthodontic treatment service available in Carlow. When does the Minister expect this service to be provided and when will it be implemented?

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for her ongoing representations, made on behalf of the good people of Carlow, on the health services they deserve.

I will provide some good news on the orthodontic lists. For people in Carlow, rather than getting the service in Carlow, the priority is getting the service for these children. I will report to the Deputy and the House some very good news. Over the last few years, we have invested a lot of money in getting children the orthodontic care they need. The waiting lists have been too long. I am very happy to say that we have had a 44% reduction in the number of children waiting. This is fantastic, and I acknowledge the work of the HSE and our oral health community in achieving it. Some areas have seen a remarkable reduction. The Dublin and mid-Leinster region has, believe it or not, seen a 78% reduction in the list, which really is great to see. The south east has seen a 21% reduction in the list, which is encouraging. Now we want to make sure that everybody begins to see those very big redactions.

The Deputy will be aware that the HSE provides the orthodontic treatment for patients referred by a HSE dentist before the child's 16th birthday. That is for orthodontic assessment. The current HSE model for the service is provided by HSE specialist consultant orthodontists. It is concentrated into regional orthodontic units to ensure the necessary equipment and clinical skills are available and that the units have sufficient throughput. We are taking a regional approach to this by creating hubs because our first priority is that the children get the care they need as quickly as possible. It is the case that care is being provided on a regional rather than county basis. We have had a 21% reduction in the numbers waiting and we need to keep pushing with that.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for that positive news. It is important. Carlow town is bigger than Kilkenny city. Central Statistics Office figures for the most recent census show that the population of Carlow town has grown by nearly 9% to nearly 28,000, while Kilkenny city has a population of 27,500. The Minister has given me good news, which I welcome, but we need to have our own services. I spoke to the HSE about having an injury clinic, and I have also spoken to the Minister about that several times. We have a huge facility in St. Dympna's Hospital in Carlow. The X-ray unit operates part time but it should be full time. We need to look at the services there. Carlow is not competing with Kilkenny but the town is growing rapidly and needs its own services.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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There might be some competition with Kilkenny but I take the Deputy's point. She can rest assured that this Government will continue to invest in health services for the people of Carlow. I was delighted to be able to visit, with Deputy Murnane O'Connor, the upgraded ambulance base in Carlow in the last few days. We now want to continue with that progress of the permanent ambulance base in a state-of-the-art facility across the road in the other facility.

On orthodontics specifically, the south-east region includes Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny and south Tipperary. The region is served by the regional orthodontic unit in Waterford, which is the main service. There are supporting clinics in Kilkenny, Clonmel and Enniscorthy. We can always keep that under review.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the reduction in the numbers on the treatment lists and I am aware of the Minister's commitment. He was in Carlow last week and we were delighted to have him down. Carlow needs to have the services it does not have at the moment. While she was not giving out to me, a constituent spoke to me about having to go to Kilkenny for orthodontic treatment. As the Minister said, some people travel to Waterford. Some parents have to take a day off work. They do not mind that but the main issue is that the population of Carlow is growing so rapidly that we need services in the county. If we had these services, we would be helping Kilkenny and other areas. I am looking for a commitment to provide an injury clinic. I want to get as much for Carlow as I can. Again, I welcome the reduction in the numbers waiting for orthodontic treatment.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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We are currently drafting the implementation plan for the next three years of the national oral health policy. There will be a regional view but with something as specialist as orthodontic care, the priority is making sure children get the care. We all want care provided as close to us as possible and we must always strive to do that. While orthodontic treatment is, hopefully, one of a small number of interventions a child might need in their entire life, it can be life-changing. As parents, we may have to travel a bit further on one, two or three days but our priority is getting our children the care they need. I fully accept the Deputy's point that we want to have that care provided as close to the patient and as close to the child as possible.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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We will move on now to Question No. 10.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I understood that Question No. 9 in the name of Deputy David Staunton was next and I could take it on his behalf.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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On a general point, I am faced here with late requests, which means that Members with questions down will not be reached. Deputy Ó Murchú submitted his request in plenty of time yesterday. There may have been a breakdown in communications somewhere. I was aware that Deputy Ó Murchú was substituting. He did everything right and notified us yesterday. I will proceed to Question No. 10 and perhaps Deputy Bruton will check if a written notification was submitted to the office.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.