Parents of children with special needs are constantly coming up against brick walls while trying to access essential services for their children. The scandal of children with scoliosis and spina bifida, left in pain while waiting for their operations, has been one of this Government's most damning failures. The heartbreaking stories of people being left behind often involve excruciating waits for assessment of needs, being forced to enter lotteries to draw a secure, suitable school place and being denied basic medical care.

I raise the case of six-year-old Tiernan Power Murphy from County Waterford. Tiernan is autistic. He has been living in severe pain since last October. He needs three teeth removed. Tiernan's parents have been told that their little boy could be waiting up to ten years for this procedure. This news was broken to them by a public dentist. Tiernan lives in such daily agony that he can barely chew food or sleep. His father Éamon has described the effect of all this on his little boy. He says:

He is usually the best in the world, usually the happiest fellow. Now to see him like this, not eating properly, afraid to eat because it hurts to chew, screaming and throwing himself to the ground, hitting himself, it is horrible for him.

No child should be left in such a terrible, traumatic situation. No parent should have to watch their child endure this agony. My colleague, Teachta David Cullinane, has contacted the HSE on Tiernan's case. A solution needs to be found for this child and it needs to be found quickly.

However, Tiernan is not alone; far from it. He is just one of thousands of children being failed by the State on dental and orthodontic waiting lists. That is thousands of children waiting for dental surgery or even to get an appointment. A mockery is being made of Sláintecare waiting targets and in the most severe cases there are more than 7,000 children waiting for more than a year for treatment that they need so badly. There are 1,100 children waiting more than four years. These children are on orthodontic lists for jaw disorders and serious teeth problems. It is very clear that pediatric dentistry is in real crisis. It is not serving children and young people generally. However, the problem is even worse when it comes to a child or a young person with special needs.

A proper solution needs to be put in place so that all these children, like Tiernan, get access to timely, specialised care. The Government needs to get to grips with the wider issue of children waiting for dental treatment. Caithfidh an Rialtas gníomh práinneach a ghlacadh maidir le leanaí atá ag fanacht is ag fanacht ar chúram agus cóir riachtanach fiaclóra. What will the Government do to address all of this? We do not have the number of dentists and dental surgeons we need. There are just 23 HSE consultants and just 250 public-only dentists. That is 25% fewer than in 2006. What action will the Government take to deal with this crisis? What action will the Taoiseach take in relation to Tiernan Power Murphy?

I thank the Deputy. Before the Taoiseach responds, by way of information for new Members and those who are not aware, as I said yesterday, when we give details of a minor and it goes on the record, we must be cognisant that I expect it is with parental consent. We have to be cognisant of that minor reaching the age of majority and not agreeing with that. I caution that when Members use private details such as a diagnosis of autism in relation to minors I ask all Members to consider that.

To be clear, that has been sought and secured. This case is on the public record.

It is not a reprimand. It is just so that everybody is aware of the consideration that needs to be given.

I agree with the Deputy that it is absolutely unacceptable that a young child in these circumstances, Tiernan Power Murphy, should be denied urgent oral healthcare and dental healthcare in terms of the extraction of teeth.

The fact that we are dealing with the condition of autism as well exacerbates the unacceptable nature of this. The Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, has been in touch with and spoken to the HSE. The HSE, I understand, is engaging with the family on this and a solution will be found immediately in respect of this specific case, as it should be. I believe the regional executive officer has acted on this. My understanding is the case was not elevated to the regional executive officer.

That does not take away from the broader issue of oral healthcare, dental healthcare and orthodontics more generally. This has been an issue in engagement between the Department and the Irish Dental Association for quite some time. Initiatives were taken last year in respect of endeavouring to break logjams. Over €200 million is now invested annually in the provision of oral healthcare. I believe that when such large sums of money are now allocated to various services, and I am saying this from the Government's perspective, this is not a resource issue. There are fundamental issues within dentistry - I accept that - but within services, when large-scale allocations are being made, the idea that situations such as this cannot be resolved is not acceptable. There has to be a more responsive approach. I will be talking to the chief executive officer of the HSE in respect of this. To be fair to him, he endeavours to be solutions-driven in resolving cases of this kind. Very often when children have special needs, the additional needs compound the condition and the experience for the child in terms of the particular issue he or she may have, in this case, the necessity to extract three teeth and the child being in extraordinary pain on an ongoing basis. These issues should be elevated and resolved. There are enough resources to resolve them. The broader issue also needs to be resolved.

Go bunúsach, tá an-chuid anois á caitheamh ó thaobh caiteachais ag an Rialtas ar chúrsaí oideachais, ar chúrsaí sláinte agus go háirithe i gcomhthéacs leanaí le gánna speisialta agus breise. Tá an-chuid airgid ann anois. Caithfimid agus caithfidh an córas bheith in ann cásanna den saghas seo a réiteach agus a réiteach go tapaidh.

More generally, if the Deputy looks, for example, at the education budget now, which is quite substantial, 25% of it is allocated to special education. The general situation is changing in terms of the growth as a percentage of population of people with disabilities more generally. In terms of children, the 2016 and 2022 censuses show there has been a very significant increase in the number of people presenting with disabilities or conditions that reduce capacity. It is quite an extraordinary increase in terms of the general population. It is also quite significant in terms of children. That means we have to ramp up significantly expenditure and resources, which we have. If the Deputy looks at special education alone, the number of extra classes and extra teachers is quite significant compared to two or three years ago.

I am glad the Taoiseach agrees with me that this situation is entirely unacceptable, that children are left without access to urgent dental care. I also welcome the fact that the Taoiseach will, as I understand it, make a direct intervention in respect of Tiernan, because a solution needs to be-----

It was already done.

No, sorry. I did not-----

I am putting the question to the Taoiseach, with respect, not to the Chief Whip. I asked that the Taoiseach make an intervention, and I would appreciate it if he did that. The problem is that we cannot bring all 7,000 stories of all of those children waiting for more than a year, or the 1,100 who have been waiting four years.

Hear, hear.

We would do nothing else if we were to do that. I am concerned that the Taoiseach is not recognising the problem or his part in it. The Taoiseach is not a commentator; he has been in government for a very considerable period.

Thank you, Deputy.

I said to the Taoiseach that we have 25% less public dentists-----

Thank you, Deputy. Your time is up.

-----than we had in 2006. Therein lies the root of the problem, and we need to address it.

Hear, hear.

More broadly, as I said earlier, the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, has been involved in this case and has spoken to the regional executive officer. As I have already said, prior to this being raised, the HSE has acted and has advised the Minister of State. The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has also been in touch with the HSE. The family have been advised-----

Yes.

-----by the HSE that this matter will be resolved. In this specific case, the intervention has happened and the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has been advised that it will be resolved. I will discuss the broader issue with the Minister for Health and the chief executive officer of the HSE in terms of cases involved, such as this one, and, more broadly, in terms of the broader dental situation and children with additional needs.