asked the Minister for Health the proportion of health expenditure devoted to dental and ophthalmic services in each of the last ten years.

As the reply is in the form of a tabular statement, I propose, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, to have it circulated with the Official Report.

Following is the statement:

Note: The costs of the aural services are not recorded separately and are therefore included above. The annual expenditure on these services is relatively small compared to the expenditure on dental and ophthalmic services.