James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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99. To ask the Minister for Health to outline his plans to review legislation relating to dentists. [20774/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Health is currently developing new legislation to replace the Dentist Act 1985. The proposed new legislation will form part of a suite of legislative instruments to ensure greater accountability for all professionals within the healthcare service. The legislation for doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists and health and social care professionals has already been modernised. The protection of the public will be the main objective of the new legislation.

A public consultation was undertaken followed by engagement with stakeholders. Key policy issues for inclusion in the new legislation have been approved and a Regulatory Impact Analysis is currently underway. The drafting of the Scheme of Bill, which is the next step in the process to develop the new legislation, has commenced.

Department officials are currently committed to drafting a priority Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, the primary purpose of which is to amend all health professional regulatory Acts as a consequence of the transposition of the modernised European Union Professional Qualifications Directive (2013/55/EU) and to address a number of other issues. Work on the preparation of the Dental Bill continues to be progressed in line with competing legislative priorities.