I raise the number of dental training places that are available in the universities in Ireland. It has not increased in the past 25 years, yet the population has increased by 1.5 million. The number of dentists taking part in the dental treatment services scheme has reduced from 1,492 to 810, which means 682 fewer dentists are available under the scheme. There is an urgent need to increase the number of training places in universities for dental students, which is quite easy to do. A total of 44% of current students attending Irish universities are from overseas. Why can we not use those places for training Irish students? It is about funding, and the reason they are bringing people from overseas is the funding. It is an easy matter to deal with. There is also a need for funding of more than €20 million between UCC and Trinity College Dublin to increase the number of places. I ask that the matter be dealt with before September 2025.

I fully accept that there is a real need and issue with regard to expanding capacity of undergraduate dentistry places in Ireland. I understand that the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI, will be producing approximately 75 graduate dentists. There is an issue as there will be 25 Irish and EU graduates and 40 non-EU graduates. RCSI is hoping to increase capacity by approximately 20 extra places. Then we have UCC and Trinity College Dublin. We need greater coherence from the other colleges as to what their priorities are from a capital investment point of view. The Department of Health and others are working with these colleges with a view to seeing how we can increase the number of dentistry places. I take the Deputy's point about the need for interim solutions.