Dental Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-05
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David Cullinane (SF), Waterford

I welcome that as well. It will add real value. The Minister spoke about oral health generally. The are issues with screening in schools. Enough simply is not being done. There is a need for more publicly hired dentists. I have made the same argument in relation to GPs. I would like to see a public GP contract but for dentists we need to look at that space. Dentists are not engaging with the dental treatment services scheme. There are rights and wrongs on both sides. I have said to dentists and the representative body that there is an obligation on dentists to ensure the most vulnerable patients have access to services. We need to beef up the public system particularly in terms of screening and orthodontists because of the waiting times.
This is particularly the case in the south east where I live, where children are waiting four, five, six or in some cases even eight years. They are listed as urgent cases and the most urgent cases are when children are in pain. There is a lot of work to be done in this area. I acknowledge what the Minister has said but there are so many issues to be addressed.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:44+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-05