Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to thank the Cathaoirleach’s office for selecting this Commencement matter. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, to the Chamber.

On 5 August, Oranmore Orthodontics issued a text message to say that the practice was closing. I will not get into the ins and outs of why, but that was development for parents in the area. The practice informed parents that it is no longer practising. Hundreds of children were left high and dry in respect of their dental care. A small number were able to get an orthodontist appointment quickly, but now have to pay extra for this, having previously paid in full for the treatment to the other practice. They do not know whether they will be reimbursed for their full payments. The vast majority of parents have been unable to get anybody to see their children. It seems that everybody is washing their hands of this, including the Dental Council of Ireland, the Dental Complaints Resolution Service and the Department of Health.

As of today, there are still no practical solutions for parents or, more importantly, for children – minors – in Oranmore, Claregalway and the general area. A meeting was held with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, online last week with some parent representatives and Oireachtas Members. It was described in an email by parent representatives who attended as “disappointing”. That is an understatement. The response that we received was extremely disappointing. All we heard at that meeting was that there is no legislation in place in the case of an orthodontist practice closing. There is a serious lack of specialist orthodontists in the country. There is no legislation in place to deal with any orthodontist practice where a nurse or an orthodontist could fall ill or where it could have to close for health reasons or where they pass away. The Minister has indicated that he is unwilling to put emergency legislation in place to support this unprecedented case, stating that legislation takes months to put in place. Yet, as I said, the text message went out on 4 August and here we are on 14 September. More than a month and a half has passed.

A departmental official who attended the meeting said it is acceptable for parents and patients to travel to Clonmel or Dublin every six weeks for a ten-minute appointment. They got no responses from the Dental Council, which said it contacted 30 orthodontists within a 1.5-hour radius of Oranmore. Parents cannot find those 30 orthodontists. They can find four, but they do not know where the other 26 are. The Dental Complaints Resolution Service is refusing to support parents.The parents are in limbo not knowing how to claim for the additional expenses incurred to continue their children's care. More importantly, the majority of patients have not secured an orthodontist willing to take on their care and there is no sign of an orthodontist willing to take on these patients any time soon. The Dental Council has advised dentists, although we have to get this in writing, not to take on patients. Some orthodontists who were initially willing to take on patients have suddenly decided they cannot do so or they will not do so on the advice of the Dental Council.

The Minister, it seems, is unwilling or unable to come up with solutions to solve this problem. Officials in the Department have suggested that orthodontists are being sought in Kildare, Cork or Clonmel. Why can the Department not engage with the Dental Council to find a locum to cover this practice while we sort out this mess? This situation is having a major impact on parents and, more importantly, on youngsters and minors. Parents are being left in limbo. Many of them paid out full costs and cannot afford to pay again. They do not know whether they will be reimbursed for the money they have paid.