asked the Minister for Education if she will make a statement on the future development of the Dublin Dental School.

32.

asked the Minister for Education whether it is intended to proceed with a new dental college in Dublin; the estimated cost of such a proposal; and the implications for Cork Dental College if such a proposal goes ahead.

55.

asked the Minister for Education if she will make a statement on the future of the Cork Dental School.

64.

asked the Minister for Education if it is intended to build a dental school in Dublin; if so, the projected size of such a school; and the location of same.

76.

asked the Minister for Eoducation if she has any plans to extend the Cork Dental School.

131.

asked the Minister for Education if it is her intention to proceed with the Dublin Dental Hospital; whether it is a superfluous need and will have the effect of threatening the future of or undermining the Cork Dental Hospital; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

I propose to reply to Questions Nos. 11, 32, 55, 64, 76 and 131 together. All these questions are from southern Deputies.

Surprise, surprise.

The issues in these questions are currently being considered by the Inter-Departmental Committee on Third Level Education. Among their terms of reference the committee are asked to recommend the manner in which decisions should be taken about the desirable level of provision in particular desciplines or faculties.

A decision on the facilities required for dental education in Dublin has been deferred pending the outcome of the deliberations of the inter-departmental committee. I have no plans for extending the Cork Dental School.

Can the Minister give us some indication as to when the report will be available and when she will make a decision on it? I am not asking for an exact date.

I thought the inter-departmental committee report would be ready by Christmas but I hope it will be available shortly after Christmas. As the Deputy knows, it also deals with health matters and decisions on these matters will be made after I receive the report.

Will the report be published?

Yes.

No decision will be taken until then?

That is correct.

Is the Minister aware that a very detailed and lengthy investigation was carried out some years ago into the Dublin Dental Hospital by the Committee on Public Expenditure and that in their report, published in May 1986, they said that the project, as then proposed, could only be justified if the Cork Dental School was closed? Would the Minister, therefore, give an assurance that if the project goes ahead in Dublin it will be substantially reduced in size and in student throughput?

I am aware of the committee's findings in their report, and I am sure all that information and any other relevant information will be taken on board by the inter-departmental committee. It would be wrong of me to comment on what will or will not be provided in the report pending its publication. I am very aware of the concerns of everyone in this matter and I am particularly aware of Deputies' concerns.

May I ask the Minister why the possibility of extending the Cork Dental School is not under discussion? The Minister seems to have closed that matter. Does the Minister not accept that there are 35 student dentists in Cork and that according to the Statutory Dental Board the national needs are 45 to 50 dentists? Surely in any objective analysis we should be talking about extending the Cork Dental School rather than going ahead with a proposal which, according to the figures available to me, may cost £20 million——

It will cost a lot more than that.

——for 50 places in Dublin and in addition will produce an excess number of dentists over and above the national need. This would have an annual running cost of approximately £2 million for those additional dentists.

The Deputy seems to be imparting a lot of information.

I will round off my question——

Questions, please.

Would it not be far more sensible to extend the existing facility in the Cork Dental School so that the national requirement recommended by the dental board can be produced there?

With respect to all the Munster Deputies, they are selling two messages. The first message is that they do not want the Dublin project to go ahead. If I was one of the Deputies I would be content with this project and not talking about some other facilities. That is by way of a bit of light relief.

If the Dublin facility goes ahead, the Cork school could be closed down.

We are awaiting the report of the inter-departmental committee and no decision will be taken in regard to any extra infrastructural facilities in the dental area until that report is received.

Will the extension of the Cork Dental School be considered?

Order, please. I am calling Deputy Brian O'Shea who has a question tabled.

Are we dealing with the same question?

Deputy O'Shea has a question tabled and if he wishes to offer I will call him.

The Minister has adequately answered my question at this stage.

Would the Minister not agree that this issue in regard to dental education is a relatively simple and straightforward one which should be decided politically rather than by an inter-departmental committee?

Another quango.