Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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979. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide details of the waiting list for orthodontic treatment in the Dublin area; the way those on the list are treated; if treated by his Department, Health Service Executive staff or if contracted out to private orthodontists; his views on the matter; if he will explain the new scheme whereby cases are referred to orthodontists in Northern Ireland; the way in which these are paid; if it is a combination of tax relief from the Irish Exchequer plus a direct fee of some €1,740 if private orthodontists in Dublin and so on have been offered this work on similar terms; if not, the reason; if the arrangement has been made by him or has his approval; if he will clarify and extend the offer of work to orthodontists working in the Irish State since the Irish taxpayer is at least paying the fee in part; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31380/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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The HSE provides orthodontic treatment to those who have been assessed and referred for treatment before their 16th birthday. It should be noted that the nature of orthodontic care means that immediate treatment is not always desirable. It is estimated that in up to 5% of cases it is necessary to wait for further growth to take place before treatment commences. Patients are assessed by the HSE Orthodontic Service under the modified Index of Treatment Need. Patients with the greatest level of need i.e. Grade 5 or Grade 4 are provided with treatment by the HSE.

Information on waiting times is collated by the HSE by region and for the intervals as shown. The information on waiting times for treatment for Quarter 2 of 2015 for the two HSE regions which include Dublin is as follows:

While there is no scheme in place whereby the HSE makes arrangements for patients to receive orthodontic treatment in Northern Ireland, under EU Directive 201/24/EU, now commonly referred to as the Cross Border Directive (CBD), it is open to persons entitled to public patient healthcare in Ireland to choose to avail of that healthcare in another EU or EEA country or Switzerland. Such patients are reimbursed to a maximum of the level of cost that would have been assumed if this healthcare had been provided in this jurisdiction. The care must be provided outside the State and may be availed of in the public or private sector. The CBD does not provide for the patient to access the care in his or her State of residence.

At present a national procurement process is underway to provide treatment for certain categories of misalignment by a panel of independent practitioners under contract to the HSE over the next three years. This initiative will especially focus on those waiting for 4 years or longer. It is expected that this initiative will commence later this year and will have a positive impact on waiting times.