The Government has utterly failed in terms of dental services. It has especially failed every child, with more than 11,000 children waiting years to get braces and half of all children not getting their scheduled dental check-ups through the school dental scheme. The Government is especially failing children in my county of Monaghan, where, as of October last year, not a single child in the 2024-25 cohort had received their dental checkup. Not a single child out of 832. How do Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael account for this failure? When I submit questions to the Minister for Health, the excuse provided is that it is down to staff vacancies arising from maternity leave and retirement. If the Minister and senior HSE management are unable to implement adequate workforce planning to account for women having children or people retiring, that calls into question basic competencies. Equally, at one point last year when I asked the Minister about access to orthodontic treatment for people from Monaghan, she told me that service was under-resourced, with three vacant orthodontic posts. This is utterly unacceptable and I commend the Sinn Féin spokesperson on health, Deputy David Cullinane, on bring forward these very detailed proposals, which outline the solutions that seem to be needed for this ever-worsening crisis. I appeal to all Members of this House to endorse this plan because this is what the children of our nation deserve - not excuses that they will not receive the healthcare that is their right simply because a dentist has retired or is off having a baby. We need a workforce plan and complete reform of our access to dental care.

Sentiment score: -0.15