Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is welcome to the House to discuss this important matter. At the end of 2022 there was an announcement awarding €900,000 to dental schools for head and neck cancer treatments. This would have been the first time funding was made available for pre-radiation and rehabilitation of head and neck cancers. These are the only cancers where patients had to pay for their own treatment. The Dublin Dental University Hospital stopped charging head and neck cancer patients in March 2023 on foot of funding that had been announced. The funding announced was earmarked for dental schools in Dublin and Cork. The Cork University Dental School and Hospital ceased offering this treatment so the Dublin Dental University Hospital put in a bid for €815,000 of the €900,000 that had been earmarked, which it estimated would be the cost to run the service. This was approved by the HSE group that controls dental service level agreements and by the national cancer control programme, NCCP. I understand, however, that the national oral health office decided without consultation with the Dublin Dental University Hospital, the HSE or the NCCP to review the budget and unilaterally reduced it to €315,000, a reduction of €500,000. In fairness, many groups have been trying to restore the funding but over the past couple of months they have been totally exasperated. This is just a recap.

The Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, announced at the end of 2022 an allocation of €900,000 of recurrent funding for the two dental schools for the treatment of patients with head and neck cancers. The Dublin Dental University Hospital sees more than 350 new patients every year and this is on the increase, in particular with new patients every year as a result of HPV in young people. Young people are the increasing numbers. Before the funding, head and neck cancers were the only cancers where the State's input ceased once the tumour was removed. There was no funding provision for rehabilitation. Patients paid for their own rehabilitation or went without it. The funding would have been a great start and hugely appreciated by the Dublin Dental University Hospital, working closely with the NCCP, to develop and expand the much-needed services. This really is a first step in developing a comprehensive service for this very deserving patient group. Ongoing resources are critical.

I must tell the Minister of State that I have a personal interest in this. When my daughter was 19 years of age, she was diagnosed with cancer of the tongue. She had radical surgery and over the past 24 years, she has been in and out of the dental hospital so often it is not funny. Today she is in the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital having encountered difficulties with her swallow over Christmas. She is currently being PEG fed through her stomach. Given what she has gone through over the past 24 years, I cannot believe the courage, strength and good humour of the woman. The medical team she has in the dental hospital are just an incredible group of people. The patients they deal with are in the most horrendous situations including trying reconstructive surgery after osteoradionecrosis in their jawbones. I really would like to hear some positive news with respect to the Dublin Dental University Hospital.