Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an múinteoir agus na daltaí. They are very welcome to Seanad Éireann. I say that on behalf of the Leas-Chathaoirleach, the Minister of State and on my own behalf. It is great to see people here.

I acknowledge that the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and the other Ministers of State in the Department are trying to sort out this matter. As the Minister of State has pointed out, extra money has been invested to try to deal with the service in parts of the country where dentists are not available to carry out this work. I know that the HSE is doing its best as well. It has advised that it is doing everything it can to expedite the processing of applications from dentists who wish to be reinstated on the DTSS. I hope those dentists who have left the system can now come back into it and assist people who need assistance.

To return to the point I made initially, oral healthcare is so important to the population, in particular at a young age, but also as people progress through life. Dental care is important. I hope that by highlighting the matter here and following some of the changes made by the Department and the HSE, that we can get more people back into the system and solve some of the problems that exist.