asked the Minister for Health if he is aware that school children attending secondary schools are not eligible for free dental services; and if he will arrange for an extension of the school dental services to them.

Until the dental services at present available to children attending national schools have been brought to an adequate level, it is not proposed to extend the services to secondary school students. Continuing steps are being taken by health boards to improve their existing dental services for school children.

Is the Minister aware of the fact that some children when attending national schools are scheduled for examination but by virtue of the fact that they have transferred to secondary schools they are not eligible for this treatment? I should like the Minister to ask the officials of his Department to look into this matter.

I made inquiries yesterday to discover that if there was treatment being given to a boy or a girl going into secondary or vocational school it would continue.

Would the Minister accept that children have been moving from primary to post-primary education at a much earlier age than they did ten years ago and that invariably they now move at 12 years of age? In fact, while one would expect progress in this area there has been a lack of it in so far as the age group between 12 and 14, who formerly received such treatment at primary schools, no longer get it.

That is not my information. I, like all Deputies in this House, do not regard the dental service provided for school-going children to be adequate but the first priority should be in respect of primary school students. However, even they are not being fully catered for, due to many reasons. The main reason is the shortage of dentists. Recently 47 posts were advertised. Up to this there was not a great response to advertisements for dentists but there may be an improvement now that the marriage bar has gone and women who were not eligible before will now be eligible to fill these posts.

While primary school children are covered by the school medical service and third level students are covered by medical cards, why is it that those in between, in second level education, are not covered by either and is there any proposal to make some comprehensive provision to fill this apparent gap?

This is so. Unfortunately, even those with medical cards in most of the country are not provided with the dental services to which they are entitled for various reasons. While the fact that they have medical cards entitles them to treatment, for various reasons, including the shortage of doctors, they do not get it.

Am I to understand that the middle group is not covered in any respect? They are not entitled to service by virtue of any legislation or regulation of the Department?

If they are holders of medical cards, or if their parents are, and the applicants are under 16——

That is not what I want to clarify. Primary school children, whether they can obtain it or not, are entitled to the school medical service. Those in third level education are entitled in their own right to medical cards. Second level students, although their parents may get them, have no particular entitlement in their own right to get medical cards and are covered by no specific regulation, or provision of the Department of Health other than what might come to them through their parents' cards?

Those at primary level are entitled to dental services. Those who are under 16 and whose parents have medical cards are entitled to dental service also. On the third level, students are entitled to medical cards and would also be entitled to dental benefit but, unfortunately, the personnel are not available to provide the services.

Seeing that the Minister has intimated that the scarcity of dentists is one of the principal factors responsible for the inadequacy of the dental services to meet health authority requirements, would he urge his colleagues in the Government to reach a favourable decision on the erection of the new dental school and hospital in Cork?

Sin ceist mór eile.

14.

asked the Minister for Health if he will permit people suffering acute dental pain who would normally qualify for free dental treatment to go for treatment to a private dental practitioner and claim subsequently from the appropriate health board.

I do not propose to implement a scheme on the lines visualised in the question. It is, however, my intention to keep the dental services under review and to make such improvements as are possible from time to time.