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Dáil
‹ Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation

School dental check-up backlog

Summary

Deputy Lahart says a child has been left waiting years for an HSE dental check-up because of Covid-related backlogs and asks about the serious delay. The Minister says dental services are a concern, training places and public-side access need expansion, and she will look into the timing issue.

As an aside on the GPO issue, the GPO has always been a hub of business transactions for well over a century. I am really excited by the Government's plans and the cultural and historical aspects. The GPO was always a hub of business and business transactions.

My question relates to a serious backlog in HSE dental check-ups for primary school children. Constituents have contacted me about their son who is now finishing fourth class. He missed out on this check-up because of Covid when he was in second class and he will not now be seen until sixth class, which will be in 2027. This child missed vital months of early education during Covid and is now being denied access to essential dental care. Could there be a catch-up programme for children who missed their second-class assessments? Could the Department consider reimbursement for tax relief purposes for those parents who had to seek private care to ensure their children's dental health was looked after? Could the Minister confirm that no cohort would be skipped in the school dental programme, in the interests of fairness, equity and restoring trust in public services?

Comment on this

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The area of dental services is a particular concern of mine. We are trying to expand the number of training places for more dentists. We also have a difficulty in the number of dentists offering services on the public side, which is impacting. We are trying to find a range of different innovative ways to get dental services to schools more easily and to make it easier for schools, children and parents to get to dental services. I note the particular point made by the Deputy and the intersection around the particular timing there. I might look for a little more detail from him directly and I will try to find a way to make sure this is not left out.

Comment on this