Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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3116. To ask the Minister for Health the reason the national oral health office has not been allocated funding for patients, in particular paediatric patients, who are on public orthodontic waiting lists; the plans for this funding to be provided; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43314/25]

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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3143. To ask the Minister for Health if she will provide an update on the progress by the national oral health office for orthodontists to provide care to grade 5 dental patients; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43485/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 3116 and 3143 together.

The HSE provides orthodontic treatment to those who have the greatest level of need and have been assessed and referred for treatment before their 16th birthday. Referrals for HSE orthodontic assessment are typically made at the sixth-class oral health assessment appointment, if the dentist determines that the child may meet the HSE's criteria. All referrals are assessed by a HSE orthodontist using the criteria outlined in the modified Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). Children whose treatment need is assessed by a HSE orthodontist as being in Grade 4 or Grade 5 of the Index are offered treatment through the HSE. No medical card is required for this treatment.

Specialist and Consultant Orthodontists employed by the HSE provide orthodontic treatment to both Grade 4 and Grade 5 patients in Regional Orthodontic Units. At the end of March 2025, there were 2,667 Grade 4 patients and 6,395 Grade 5 patients in active treatment at HSE Regional Orthodontic Units nationally. However, there are currently delays in accessing this service and the HSE has put in place a number of measures to address waiting times. These include treatment waiting list initiatives, services improvement initiatives and access to orthodontic services outside the jurisdiction for patients who meet the HSE's criteria.

In particular, there has been significant investment of €17m between 2022 and 2024 to support access to children’s orthodontic treatment. This funding, which is administered by the HSE’s National Oral Health Office, has seen the creation of a new initiative supporting access to jaw surgery for orthodontic patients who require this surgery as part of their treatment plan. The funding has also supported the transfer of over 4000 Grade 4 patients whose treatment can be provided in a community setting into private care, which in turn increases access to Regional Orthodontic Units for Grade 5 patients, as evident in the higher number of Grade 5 patients in active care.

These two successful initiatives are being continued this year through the provision of €2.85 million in funding nationally. Through this initiative, in 2025, 143 patients have been transferred to private orthodontic care and 31 patients have received jaw surgery as part of their orthodontic treatment.

In the long term, the Government is committed to fundamentally reforming oral healthcare services, including children's orthodontic services, through implementation of the National Oral Health Policy, Smile agus Sláinte. Budget 2025 allocated €2m for 2025, increasing to €4m in 2026, to continue the implementation of the National Oral Health Policy. This investment is going to provide an additional 15 dental staff across dentists and dental nurses to deliver the oral healthcare services. The HSE is also progressing recruitment of 34.7 vacant oral healthcare whole-time-equivalents. This includes 3 vacant Specialist Orthodontist and 2.2 supporting dental nurse whole-time-equivalents, supporting access to our HSE Orthodontic Units.