Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I understand that and I understand the distances. I say this because I am not certain anything I have in my reply is any different from what Senator Ó Clochartaigh has already said. I hope he accepts that. I accept that there are huge distances involved. I understand that the distances and the nature of the terrain mean this case is different. That is accepted.

I wish to address the provision of public dental services, in particular for children in Connemara and the Aran Islands. The public dental service provides emergency, routine and preventive oral health services to children under 16 and to people of all ages with special needs. The services are delivered by dentists, dental nurses and dental hygienists employed by the HSE. Galway local health office area provides dental and other health services to Galway city and county. It has a population of approximately 254,000 and is served by nine dental teams. Services provided by the dental teams include services for those with special needs; general anaesthetic services for both those with special needs and children requiring same; emergency services; screening and treatment for all 6th class children before entering secondary school; and orthodontic assessments.

Where resources permit, additional school classes are screened and preventive care and treatment provided. Staffing for dental teams in Galway is expected to reduce after February 2012 due to early retirements. Galway local health office area teams will be further reorganised at that time to include realignment of staff to ensure that equity of services is maintained across the area. The vast majority of children from the Aran Islands avail of services provided in Galway city.

The HSE is to consider the possibility of providing a school screening service on the Aran Islands so as to reduce the need for children to travel to the mainland. From next month, the dental services provided in Connemara will be reorganised. Alternative arrangements are being made to replace the one day a week service currently provided from the health centre in Carna. Patients who currently attend the one day a week clinic in Carna will be asked to attend clinics in Clifden or Carraroe, as the Senator has already outlined. The dental team will contact patients from the nine primary schools served by Carna to rearrange appointments for them in Clifden or Carraroe clinics. This centralisation of the service is necessary to ensure that standards for infection control are maintained at all of the clinics within the Clifden Primary Care Network. Refocusing services to fewer clinics ensures maintenance of standards. Centralisation is necessary also to ensure that sufficient staff are available regularly to service all of the clinics.

The clinic in Carraroe has been upgraded recently. It currently has a limited service provided by a dental hygienist. From February a dental team will provide an elective and an emergency service to the area for one day a week from the Carraroe clinic. Works on the clinic in Clifden are currently underway to ensure that it meets the national standards on infection control. The Clifden Primary Care Network area which includes the dental clinics at Clifden and Carraroe and also a clinic in Oughterard, serves a population of approximately 34,000. A total of six days of dental services is provided per week from this Primary Care Network.