Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

The dental industry is under pressure from Northern Ireland and eastern Europe and this measure will exacerbate the problem. Those not availing of the insurance will go to the nearest area outside, which is Northern Ireland. I hope that will not be the case but it probably will be. We will see a significant number of job losses in this area so the measure is counter-productive. Senator Norris referred to 93,000 extractions out of 2 million eligible people at a cost of €13.5 million. The amount of money is quite small when one takes the industry into account, the service it provides and the health of the nation's teeth in the long run. The Minister should re-examine this section.