Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----who want people to be properly and respectfully treated.

Less of a life and death issue but nonetheless important is dentistry and people's oral and dental health. I was very interested by what Dr. John Marley, dean of the faculty of dentistry in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI, had to be say last week when he came before the Joint Committee on Health. It probably will not surprise people that during the recession, many households cut down their spending on dental treatments but what would surprise them is that the faculty of dentistry in the RCSI had no input into the development of the national oral health strategy. Dr. Marley pointed out some interesting matters of which I was unaware and of which other people may also be. There is no foundation year – what we would call an internship year in the area of medicine - for dentists. Dentists go into private practice without having such a foundation year pre-registration. There is no mandatory continual professional development for dentists in the way there is for medics and other professionals. As doctors and pharmacists have ongoing training in the latest medical developments, it is striking that no such system operates for dentists. There is limited access to dental specialties. There are only about two specialties and consultancies, orthodontics and oral surgery, in which people can work in Ireland while there are about 11 other specialties in the UK and internationally. That is something we should discuss in this Chamber. I was extremely surprised by all of those things Dr. Marley had to say. We should discuss them with the Minister for Health, together perhaps with other issues in due course.