My question relates to the lack of a school dental programme in County Monaghan. I submitted a parliamentary question on this and the response I got was very disturbing, to be honest. We all know that in all areas of health care, early intervention is crucial. Prevention is preferable to treatment. Issues identified early allow for less intensive or invasive treatment. It is positive to introduce and reinforce positive dental hygiene and care from an early age. Dental is among the most basic of health services, so the Minister of State will appreciate my shock to receive a response from the HSE to a parliamentary question which outlined that no children in County Monaghan received a dental check-up in the last academic year. Actually, being shocked does not go far enough; I was disgusted, to be honest. The HSE informed me that the reason for this was staff retirements, maternity leaves and the paucity of dentists available nationally. It is not too much for the people of Monaghan to ask the Minister that this service would be put in place immediately. Retirements are generally foreseeable and should not lead to collapse in the services. Maternity leave is a fairly common life experience which should not lead to a collapse in the service. Will the Minister of State ensure that the people of County Monaghan get their routine dentistry requirements and check-ups in national school? It is also a question of accountability for the HSE and the Government on this matter. This scandal that no children in County Monaghan are receiving dental check-ups has brought both me and the Minister of State into the House this morning. What has brought us to this point is a broader mismanagement and, given the latest revelation, I would say maladministration of our dental services. At the heart of the issue is Government's failure to train enough dentists and overreliance on private dentists who are under no obligation to deliver this critical public service. To go from 770 children in 2021 who did receive routine check-ups to zero children last year in County Monaghan who received a dental check-up, leaving 832 children on a waiting list, is undeniably a collapse of the service. Does the Minister of State accept that there has been another collapse in the HSE school-linked dental programme in County Monaghan? What is she going to do about it and when is she going to do it? How many children in Monaghan will receive a check-up in this academic year?

Sentiment score: -0.02

I want to reiterate that although 900 people were assessed in Cavan, in County Monaghan zero children were assessed. That needs to change and something needs to happen immediately. Sinn Féin outlined our proposals to address the crisis fostered by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in our dental services. A year ago, my party colleague and Sinn Féin spokesperson, Deputy Cullinane, published our health plan. It highlighted that between 2019 and 2024, nearly half of dentists providing publicly funded care to medical card holders had withdrawn from the dental treatment services scheme. Nearly 80% of those who remained were not taking on new patients. The Government's oversight of the denial of services has been seen in low-income households that have been denied the opportunity to save teeth and prevent oral disease. In the long term, it will cost households and the State more. The Government has not heeded the warnings from the Dental Council of Ireland, the Irish Dental Association or Sinn Féin and we are dealing with the consequences. We can now pay heed to Sinn Féin's plan. The Minister of State needs to do this. We need to hire more dentists and dental care teams to target school screening for children and medical card holders. Sinn Féin would expand dental training places by 32% from 185 to 245, develop a modern general dental services contract, crucially including a public-only contract, and make necessary reforms to the Dentists Act. A year ago, Sinn Féin said we needed to get dental screening programmes in schools back on track. In my county of Monaghan, the programme has come off the tracks entirely. Will the Government implement the necessary measures that I have outlined? Will the Minister of State give a guarantee that the schools programme will be reinstated in County Monaghan this year?

Sentiment score: 0.13