Dental Services
Seanad Éireann — 2025-11-27
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Cathal Byrne (FG), Cultural and Educational Panel

I thank the Minister of State for her response. It is important to recognise this is about ensuring people across the country have access to the best possible dental care. As I highlighted earlier, I have concerns we are not training sufficient numbers of dentists and we are not taking on, through the HSE, sufficient numbers of dentists. We have to look at all possible options for children in particular, 2,000 of whom are waiting over four years for dental care. We need to take an all-encompassing approach that prioritises recruitment and while we wait for the RCSI to get up and running, we should see whether we can take on more dentists who have qualified abroad, while ensuring the recognition examination is to the highest possible standard.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-11-27/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:23+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-11-27