David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1187. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to hire additional dentists, orthodontists and dental nurses in the public system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15485/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Smile agus Sláinte, the new National Oral Health Policy provides the groundwork to transform oral health services over the next eight years. The community oral healthcare services will centre on vulnerable and special care support services, as well as on needs assessment for people in residential settings and others who require additional supports.

The Policy recognises the need for a suitably skilled workforce to provide appropriate oral healthcare across all settings. This workforce will include oral healthcare professionals providing the highest level of care in advanced oral healthcare centres or in secondary/tertiary care centres, as well as oral healthcare professionals providing oral healthcare advice and preventive care directly to the public in primary oral healthcare settings. A protected educational, training and research environment will be a priority for the implementation of the Policy.

The detail of workforce requirements will be agreed as part of the implementation process. At present it remains difficult to quantify what the public health sector's future workforce requirements will be, as we are still in the process of managing the current COVID-19 crisis. Once the full impact of the pandemic is understood, the service requirements and available resources will determine the extent to which recruitment may be required.