Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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603. To ask the Minister for Health to urgently address the long and unacceptable waiting lists for orthodontic care (details supplied), currently standing at 5.5 years, with no sign of reducing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4142/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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There are challenges in the provision of oral healthcare services, including orthodontics, and patients are waiting longer than they should have to, to access care. Therefore, in addition to the over €200m that the Government invests in public oral healthcare services annually, additional investment of one-off funding in recent years has supported a reduction in the total number waiting to commence orthodontic treatment nationally, by 43% between end-March 2019 and end-June 2024.

However, I acknowledge that we need to do more. From 2025, €8.4 million is being provided on an ongoing basis to continue initiatives aimed at addressing primary care waiting lists for children. This year, €2.85m of this funding will be used to continue ongoing successful orthodontic treatment waiting list initiatives to address the demand for orthodontic treatment.

To support and improve access to care in the longer term, implementation of the National Oral Health Policy is proceeding and a plan for the first phase of implementation to end-2027 is being finalised between my Department and the HSE. The plan will set out a phased approach to the reform of public oral healthcare services, including orthodontics, along with the associated strategic workforce planning elements.