Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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519. To ask the Minister for Health the steps taken by her since Budget 2025 to improve the oral hygiene & dental care for GMS and PRSI patients; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22520/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Building on recent investment, an additional €2m in funding was awarded in Budget 2025, increasing to €4m in 2026, to continue implementation of the National Oral Health Policy (NOHP) and improve access to existing community services in our HSE dental and orthodontic clinics.

The NOHP sets out a complete transformation of oral healthcare services and expansion of the care available for both children and adults. An implementation plan for the first phase of the NOHP roll-out to end-2027 is being finalised between my Department and the HSE and includes reform of services for adults and children among the initial priorities, as also reflected in the HSE’s commitments within the National Service Plan 2025.

The NOHP also contains a range of commitments regarding strategic workforce planning for the oral healthcare sector. The Budget 2025 investment is providing an additional 15 HSE dental staff nationally to deliver oral healthcare in our community, including supporting children to access the current primary school programme of routine check-ups. In addition to this, the HSE has sanctioned filling 34.7 existing Whole Time Equivalent vacancies in the Oral Healthcare Service and the recruitment process for these posts is underway.

To enhance workforce capacity, the NOHP recognises the need for all oral healthcare professionals to be able to work at their broadest scope aligned with their training and competency. A scoping project is being finalised to assess the feasibility of a mid-level oral healthcare professional grade. The purpose of this work is to develop proposals for the delivery of a pilot programme to expand the current scope of practice of existing auxiliary oral healthcare professional grades, which could benefit the public in terms of providing more services to GMS and PRSI patients. Additionally, the Dental Council has recently submitted an assessment of the scope of practice for all current dental auxiliary grades, which my Department is currently reviewing.

Furthermore, €2.85m is being invested this year to continue successful orthodontic treatment waiting list initiatives. As of April 2025, 91 patients have been supported to access orthodontic care through private, community-based orthodontists this year, and a further 22 patients who require jaw surgery as part of their public orthodontic treatment have been supported to access this surgery.

Insured workers, self-employed people, retired people, and their dependent spouse/partner who have the required number of social insurance (PRSI) contributions may avail of the Dental Treatment Benefit Scheme, which comes under the remit of the Minister for Social Protection.