Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for the opportunity to address the issue of dental services for medical card holders. I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly.

Dental services for children up to 16 years of age are provided by the public dental service of the HSE through its dental clinics. These services are provided to eligible children and do not depend on medical card status. HSE dental clinics provide a screening and fissure sealant programme for children at key stages of development, that is, children aged six to eight, children aged 11 to 16, and, where resources are available, children aged nine to 11. The service includes referral for further treatment, including orthodontic treatment, where necessary. Emergency care for children up to 16 years of age is also provided.

The Minister is aware that since the emergence of Covid-19, there has been a significant increase in delays accessing dental care for those in target school classes. This has resulted in backlogs emerging in the targeted schools programme. The Minister has been assured by the HSE that it is continuing to restore dental screening and treatment to children up to 16 years of age through recruitment initiatives to fill vacancies that have arisen or may arise, prioritising clinical treatment and patient groups and reallocating clinical resources according to greatest need.

Dental treatment for medical card holders aged 16 and over is provided under the dental treatment services scheme. Services available annually have included an examination, two fillings and emergency extractions. More complex care and a broader range of treatments for patients with special needs and high-risk patients is also provided, some of which requires prior approval.

Both the Minister and the Government have been concerned for some time that medical card patients in some parts of the country have been experiencing problems in accessing dental services. To help address this issue, the Minister secured an additional €10 million in budget 2022 to provide for expanded dental health care for medical card holders, including the reintroduction of scale and polish.To address the concerns of contractors about the sustainability of the scheme, the Minister is using an estimated €16 million of an underspend in this year's Estimate allocation of €56 million to award fee increases across a number of items, including fillings and restorations. The combination of these two measures represents an estimated total additional investment of €26 million in the scheme this year over and above what was spent on the scheme in 2021, which was €40 million.

Following consultation with the Irish Dental Association, these new measures came into effect on 1 May. The Minister hopes that this significant additional investment in the scheme will attract more dentists to treat medical card patients. The Minister has been assured by the HSE that its local services on the ground will assist any persons who are still experiencing problems in accessing a service.

These measures are designed to address immediate concerns with the scheme, pending a more substantive reform of dental services to align with the national oral health policy. As part of this work, the Minister has given a commitment that there will be a substantive review of dental services, and work on this has already commenced.