Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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838. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated cost to reinstate the 2008 dental treatment services scheme [25511/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) provides dental treatments to medical card holders. In 2010 the range of treatments provided under the Scheme was reduced in order to cap expenditure at the 2008 level of €63 million. Theses changes still apply, although people considered high risk are provided with additional care. The cost of restoring treatments which had been provided before 2010 would depend on a number of factors, including the underlying oral health of the population and the likely level of take-up of such services.

Smile agus Sláinte, the National Oral Health Policy, published in April 2019, sets out the new model of care delivery for dental services. It includes proposals for the introduction of packages of oral healthcare for adult medical card holders at different intervals during their life course. The packages will focus on prevention and will include examinations, advice, and preventive therapies such as scale and polish. The timeframe for the delivery of the Policy is 2020 to 2026 and the roll-out of these packages of care will take place incrementally.