Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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1116. 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. [47627/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The HSE provides orthodontic treatment to patients with the most severe and complex treatment needs, who are classified as Grade 4 or Grade 5 according to the HSE’s assessment criteria.

The Government has invested significantly in orthodontic waiting list initiatives, including €17m between 2022 and 2024. In that time, through these initiatives, 4,007 Grade 4 patients have been provided with care via private capacity.

Access to HSE’s Regional Orthodontic Units is however vital for the subset of patients with the most complex treatment needs. This includes Grade 5 subcategories where orthodontic problems may require coordination of multiple services, including surgical planning. For orthodontic patients who require jaw surgery, the €17m investment has enabled a surgical initiative, benefitting 127 patients in 2023 and 2024.

The HSE is progressing scoping work on potential initiatives, to utilise private capacity, for one Grade 5 subcategory, 5A. Once this scoping is finalised the feasibility of emerging options will be considered including from a budgetary perspective.

In 2025 what we are doing is investing €2.85m in our two existing waiting list initiatives. This supports the transfer of lower complexity Grade 4 patients into alternative care, which in turn creates capacity in and increases access to Regional Orthodontic Units for our more complex Grade 5s. At the end of June 2025, 71% of patients in active treatment nationally with HSE orthodontists were Grade 5 patients (6,338 Grade 5 patients; 2,575 Grade 4 patients in active treatment).

The HSE is progressing recruitment of 34.7 vacant oral healthcare whole-time-equivalents and 15 additional whole-time-equivalent staff nationally supported by Budget 2025 funding. This includes 3 vacant Specialist Orthodontist and 2.2 supporting dental nurse whole-time-equivalents, supporting access to our HSE Orthodontic Units.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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1117. To ask the Minister for Health if she will provide an update on orthodontic services provided in the Louth area; her plans to ensure adequate personnel and services, particularly for grade 4 and 5 dental patients; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47628/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly.