asked the Minister for Social Welfare when it is intended to provide dental and optical benefit for the wives of insured workers.

9.

asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he intends making dental and optical benefits available to the spouses of insured persons.

With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 9 together.

The provision of dental and optical benefits for the spouses of insured workers is under consideration in my Department but it is too early as yet to say when this can be done. I will, however, be pressing ahead with the matter as quickly as possible.

When he is faced with these questions, when will the Minister discard this mickey mouse approach to this issue? During election after election the Fianna Fáil operators have been saying this will be a priority which can be instituted at a stroke of a pen. Now the Minister comes in here once more with a lot of waffle which is being repeated in the Dublin West by-election campaign. He is being run out of the place, quite rightly. The question is if the Minister would tell the House precisely when he intends to bring legislation before the House without any further waffle. I want the Minister to know that I intend to circulate this reply in the Dublin West constituency. Let us have the Minister's answer to it.

My first task on assuming duty as Minister was to restore the level of services which had been severely cut by my predecessor.

Will the Minister stand on his own feet?

The dental schemes throughout the country had been savaged by the former Government. They were severely cut back. If the Deputy wants to see the figures in relation to the schemes I will show them to him gladly.

It was done in a Fianna Fáil budget.

The Deputy has only to call to one of the health boards and he will see that their estimates were severely cut. My first task on assuming duty was to get some additional funds. From the incoming Government I got funds which enabled me to restore the level of service. Having done so, I am now in a position to proceed and I have invited the Irish Dental Association to meet me to consider various arrangements necessary to implement the provisions of the extension of the dental schemes to the spouses of insured workers. This will involve a number of aspects, particularly the supply of dentists. At their annual general meeting the Irish Dental Association said they will be quite happy to discuss with me the broad development of the scheme. Incidentally, I never said that at a stroke of a pen dentists could be manufactured throughout the country. I am afraid the Deputy is not aware of the realities of the situation. When I was Minister previously I undertook this development and now that I am back in office I have been given a further opportunity.