Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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1508. To ask the Minister for Health to set aside funding to reintroduce a foundation training scheme to facilitate new dental graduates to gain experience in a mentored environment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14873/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Mentoring is an important aspect of career development. It provides a structured environment for individuals to set and achieve goals and to develop skills. One of the key actions of the National Oral Health Policy, Smile agus Sláinte, is to evaluate graduate education and put lifelong postgraduate mentoring and supervisory networks in place to support dentists after study and throughout their professional career.

Smile agus Sláinte, sets out a new model of oral healthcare delivery. This policy focuses on a primary oral healthcare approach that will enable greater access to care by examining the training, roles and regulation of dental health professionals.

As part of this, undergraduate dental education will need to be realigned with the Policy by placing primary oral healthcare at its centre. The primary oral healthcare approach represents a significant change which requires an education system, both at undergraduate and graduate level, to ensure that the profession can respond to the oral healthcare needs of the entire population. In addition, ensuring that a sufficient breadth of skills is maintained in the profession will enable it to be flexible and responsive as the population’s oral health needs change.

In that context, while my Department is aware of the foundation training scheme that was previously in place, this would consist of additional training required after completion of undergraduate training to qualify a person to register and to provide care. It should be the case that graduates do not need to apply for and complete a separate qualification before they can practise. If a higher qualification is to be required, students should progress automatically, as is the case in other disciplines like pharmacy whereby a masters year is included, so that they are fully qualified to practise upon graduation.

The Foundation Training Scheme isn’t as broad as the policy approach of putting in place postgraduate mentoring and supervisory networks. The National Oral Health Policy approach seeks to develop a framework for postgraduate mentoring and supervisory networks to support oral healthcare professionals, throughout their careers.

The intention is to support oral healthcare professionals by providing mentoring programmes as well as forms of Continuous Professional Development (CPD). Such CPD can include long distance and online courses which would be accessible to oral healthcare professionals.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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1509. To ask the Minister for Health what new proposals will be put in place to assist in the delivery of the new dental hospital in UCC; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14874/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy should note there are ongoing discussions around the National Development Plan (NDP) review between three departments including my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform given the significant capital costs involved in expansion. There are a range of potential projects which have been identified and can be pursued in Dentistry among other areas, including the delivery of the new dental school and hospital in UCC, which will support delivery of national objectives including Sláintecare. There are projects which would be possible to deliver at pace over the short-term period, as well as a number of other projects which could be delivered over the medium term.

At the conclusion of the NDP review, once updated department ceilings have been confirmed, successful applicants would be identified by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) based on assessment of objective criteria.

The funding and delivery of potential public capital projects is subject to the successful completion of the various approval stages, in line with the new lifecycle approach of the Public Spending Code (PSC), which was updated in 2019. The PSC is designed to ensure that investment decisions are underpinned by a clear policy rationale, and that costs are well understood.

These are defined processes which all Departments and agencies are subject to and must follow to ensure that Government, as the approving authority for all major projects, can be satisfied that the project is the best means to achieve a policy goal and that we achieve maximum value for money for the taxpayer. The specific requirements that must be included in a business case at the various stages of the PSC are detailed at www.gov.ie/en/publication/public-spending-code/.

The Cork Dental School and Hospital has two distinct remits: the Dental School for undergraduate and postgraduate education of future dental professionals and the hospital or service element which provides dental care both privately as well as under a HSE service level agreement.

The Dental School is under the direct remit of the HEA via University College Cork as the employment and governing body and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science leads on and funds education-related activities.

Regarding the hospital function, the HSE is responsible for the planning and delivery of health services and management of healthcare infrastructure. Each year the HSE must develop a National Service Plan and Capital Plan upon receipt of notification from Department of Health of annual allocations set in the budget and priorities set out in the Letter of Determination. These plans must then be submitted for review and approval by the Minister for Health. Health capital investment decisions are informed by Programme for Government priorities, sectoral policies, strategies and reform initiatives as set out in Sláintecare.

Therefore, the Cork Dental School and Hospital must engage with the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the HSE, in the context of the requirements of the Public Spending Code, to explore the possible contribution of public funding to a new dental hospital building.

Work is ongoing through the appropriate processes to explore options to support the Cork University Dental School and Hospital to continue to deliver on its remit regarding both education and healthcare service provision.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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1510. To ask the Minister for Health if he will set aside additional funding of €20 million for the two dental schools at UCC and TCD to increase the number of dental graduates that will practice in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14875/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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One of the priorities of the National Oral Health Policy, Smile agus Sláinte, is to expand and maximise the oral healthcare workforce capacity in Ireland.

There are ongoing discussions around the National Development Plan (NDP) review between three departments including my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform given the significant capital costs involved in expansion. There are a range of potential projects which have been identified and can be pursued in Dentistry among other areas, which will support delivery of national objectives including Sláintecare. There are projects which would be possible to deliver at pace over the short-term period, as well as a number of other projects which could be delivered over the medium term.

At the conclusion of the NDP review, once updated department ceilings have been confirmed, successful applicants will be identified by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) based on assessment of objective criteria.

Aligned with Departmental policy regarding self-sufficiency and to address the current imbalance of domestic (including EU/UK) students vs non-EU students, dental schools need to have a 75:25 ratio of domestic vs non-EU students. Superimposed on this rebalancing there needs to be an additional 10-20% on the number of college places made available to dental students in the longer term.

According to figures obtained in 2022 out of the 50 Dentistry graduates produced from UCC 20 were domestic students while of the 40 graduates produced from TCD 25 were domestic students. The HEA had requested both dental schools at UCC and TCD to submit proposals to expand capacity.

The Department of Health is fully supportive of the opportunities to expand capacity in both UCC and TCD and would be in favour of any proposal to increase the number of dental graduates that will practice in Ireland.