Regarding an area that is close to my heart, I recall that when I started to operate a constituency clinic, I shrivelled up when constituents raised the issue of orthodontic treatment. The waiting list in my health board area and other health board areas was unacceptable. However, the following is the current picture. The waiting list in County Longford was eliminated last year and patients currently receive treatment as soon as is needed. This, effectively, represents treatment on demand. The new clinic at Portlaoise General Hospital opened this month and all patients will taken off the waiting list in County Laois by the end of this year. As a result of an increased productivity incentive in place in County Offaly, all patients there will be taken off the waiting list by the end of 2002. New orthodontic clinics will be installed in County Westmeath in Athlone and Mullingar in early 2003. These facilities should enable all patients on the waiting list in the county to start treatment by September 2003, but the improvements do not end there.