Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 220: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the reason orthodontic treatment is not covered under the National Treatment Purchase Fund; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20085/09]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) was established to arrange treatment for patients who have been waiting longest on surgical, in-patient waiting lists. Under the provisions of its establishment order, the NTPF currently arranges hospital-based treatment. As orthodontic treatment does not normally require hospital based care, it does not fall currently within the remit of the NTPF.