I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, back to the House. I am delighted to see her. She could get honorary membership

I thank the Minister of State for coming. Since I have been in the House, I have been calling for more dentists and dental hygienists. For decades, we had a school dental service, which played a vital role in ensuring early detection and through which children from first class, to fourth and sixth class typically received oral health treatment. The Killybegs dental service played a vital role in the areas of Glencolumbkille, Carrick, Kilcar, Bruckless and Dunkineely for decades. This surgery had a patient list of more than 500 children. People are now being forced to travel long distances to Donegal town. The point furthest away, Glencolumbkille, is 54 km from Donegal town. If people have to go for emergency treatment to Ballyshannon, it is 72.6 km or an hour and ten minutes of travel.

We had a service that was working well. Everyone was happy with it. Let us consider the time parents will now have to take off. My children attended the dental service in Killybegs, which was first class. I could pick them up from school and bring them back and would normally be gone for an hour or an hour and a half. Now, when I have to travel to Donegal town, I will be away for perhaps half a day if I take them out of school and bring them back.

There was no consultation I know of with anyone in the local area. This just happened overnight and the people of the area feel disadvantaged. When we had something that was working very well in a rural community, it should have been kept, enhanced and reinforced, because parents just do not have the time to be running here, there and everywhere.

I have nothing against Donegal town. It has a first class, state-of-the-art service. This should not be seen as an issue with Donegal town; this is not. I wish that service all the best. It is great to have it. I wish we had the same in Killybegs. For fair treatment, there was no consultation about this at all. This was taken away from under people's noses and it is really affecting parents and families in my area. They are coming to me in their droves about it and it needs to be sorted out. Perhaps the Minister of State will help me out with this.

I thank the Senator for raising the important issue of why the school dental service in Killybegs, County Donegal has not been restored since the retirement of the previous dentist. The HSE oral healthcare service aims to provide an oral examination and necessary treatment for children at the approximate ages they are in second and sixth class and, in some cases, fourth class. Emergency care is provided to children of all ages up to 16 and for those with complex and additional needs.

The Minister for Health is aware that there are currently backlogs in the HSE's child oral health examination programme, which has meant that sixth class children are being prioritised. I compliment the Minister that yesterday the Cabinet approved draft legislation for continuing professional development for dentists, to support more dentists and to update the legislation, which has been in place since 1985. This is an important move because we are aware of challenges in dentistry around the country and especially in remote areas.

The HSE has advised that the dental clinic in Killybegs closed in December 2024, ahead of the planned retirement of a dentist in May 2025, as the Senator said. The premises no longer meet updated regulatory and compliance requirements. Patients were referred to a new state-of-the-art dental clinic in Donegal town to continue their treatment. Children are also offered emergency care at this clinic, but I take on board the point the Senator made that there was no consultation and that this happened without anyone being aware of it. Recruitment of an additional dentist for the Donegal town service to fill the post vacated in Killybegs is under way and the head of service in Donegal anticipates this post will be filled early next year.

The HSE assures that appointments will be offered to children who have been waiting the longest as a priority once the post is filled.

When I read this response before I came over to take this matter, being a Minister of State in the Department of Health, I saw two ways to look at this. The premises obviously did not meet regulatory and compliance requirements, which is an issue. My understanding is that there is a state-of-the-art premises in Donegal town. There is dentistry there and there will be an additional dentist early in the new year.

The Senator is pointing to the fact that there was no consultation and coupled with that, he is pointing to the time it takes for people to get from Killybegs to Donegal town. I visited Donegal in my capacity as the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health at the start of September. I visited the three child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, teams. I met the clinical director of the inpatient unit of the approved centre for mental health. I also met several doctors. I was pleased by the way all the clinicians seemed to work together and support each other. That is really important. The Senator may not be aware of this but those medical professionals were very concerned about outpatient mental health supports. I included funding in budget 2026 for a crisis resolution team for Donegal, including a crisis café with recurring funding of €1.3 million for a multidisciplinary team of up to ten people. I know I have moved off the subject but I want to let the Senator know that there is recognition of the geographical challenges in such a large county. Killybegs is right on the periphery.

I will speak to the Minister and raise the Senator's concerns about the fact that there is not going to be a service available. I am not sure what the knock-on effect will be for those who may not be in a position to travel for that support. As he said, it could take up to half a day and it also means that parents lose time at work. I get the point about the need for governance issues. Having more capacity in one particular area works well. I understand the geographical challenges that people in Donegal are having.

I thank the Minister of State for all she is doing for Donegal. It does not go unnoticed. I really appreciate what she and other Ministers are doing for Donegal. I do not want to be coming in here to give out all the time. I see what is being done in Donegal and am grateful.

The Minister of State referred to the fact that we have a large county. It makes no sense for a parent to have to take a half day from work to take a child to Donegal town. We had something that was working well. Can the Department upgrade the premises in Killybegs or acquire a new premises there? There are places available in Killybegs that would be more than happy to accommodate the likes of a dental service. It is vital for children. I know that myself. I have two children, one of whom is a teenager. Their teeth are in great shape because from an early age, they were looked after and cared for. Their teeth were brushed every night. The dentist in Killybegs was second to none. She was a real lady and looked after the children. She made them feel safe if they had to get an extraction or anything like that. She went beyond the call of duty. I ask the Minister of State to take the issue back to the Minister and ask her to look at the situation again.

I thank the Senator for the manner in which he has raised this important issue and for complimenting the supports that are available. They are good supports when people have access to them. The Government is committed to addressing immediate difficulties that patients are experiencing in accessing oral healthcare services, as well as fundamentally reforming dental services through the implementation of the national oral health policy, Smile agus Sláinte. The policy sets out the vision for the future of oral healthcare services. The two key goals of the policy are to provide supports to enable every individual to achieve his or her personal best oral health and to reduce oral health inequality across the population by enabling vulnerable groups to access oral healthcare and improve their oral health. I am also conscious of the Sláintecare model, which calls for the right care at the right time as close to home as possible. I will certainly raise the issue with the Minister to see if this is a definitive step that has been taken in Donegal or if there is any room to consider it again.