Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This is my first day as Minister of State in this Chamber. I thank the Senator for his warm welcome and also for the congratulations on the Galway win. I congratulate him on a great win in London also. It is leading up to a great challenge on Sunday week. I am sure I will see him in Pearse Stadium.

I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. I thank the Senator for the opportunity to address the issue of dental services and recruitment of dentists for medical card holders. The dental treatment services scheme, DTSS, provides dental care free of charge to medical card holders aged 16 and over. Services are provided by private dentists and clinical dental technicians who hold a contract with the HSE to operate the DTSS. Services available annually and on demand include an examination, two fillings, emergency extractions and a scale and polish. More complex care, such as dentures, and a broader range of treatments for patients with additional needs and high-risk patients are available subject to the approval of the local HSE principal dental surgeon. To support contractors to provide care under the scheme, an additional €10 million was made available in budget 2022 to increase the preventative care available and increase the fees paid to contractors for most treatment items by between 40% and 60% from May 2022. The introduction of these measures has improved access to care for patients. In 2024, 227,691 additional treatments were provided nationally under the DTSS, with 44,208 extra patients treated when compared with 2022. The Minister acknowledges, however, that access issues remain and that complete modernisation of care, the service model and, subsequently, contractual arrangements for adult medical card holders is required.

The vision for substantial service reform is set out in the national oral health policy. Budget 2025 allocated €2 million for 2025, increasing to €4 million in 2026, to continue the implementation of the national oral health policy. The investment will also provide an additional 15 HSE dental staff to deliver oral healthcare in the community, including medical card holders. In addition to this, the HSE has sanctioned filling the existing 34.7 whole-time equivalent vacancies in the oral healthcare service and has advised that the recruitment process has commenced. This will further assist the provision of oral healthcare services by HSE dental staff to provide the care it is tasked to provide.

The plan for the first phase of policy implementation, to end in 2027, is being finalised by the Department of Health and the HSE, following targeted consultation in quarter 3 of last year. The policy highlights the need for strategic workforce planning to ensure a sufficient number of appropriately trained oral healthcare professionals, including dentists, dental hygienists, dental nurses and other auxiliary grades. It is heartening to note that, currently, we have more registered dentists in Ireland than ever before - 3,823 as of April 2025, which is an additional 171 registered dentists since April 2024. To increase this number further, the Minister for Health supports the creation of additional capacity in higher education, including in oral healthcare. Substantial modernisation of the service and contractual model, in tandem with increasing workforce capacity, will train and enable more dentists to take contracts to care for medical card holders.

The Senator asked how many dentists are in Roscommon. I will ask the Minister to reply directly to him on that.