I thank all Deputies across the House for their contributions to the debate. I will not disagree with many of the arguments they made. While some progress has been made recently, it is absolutely fair to say that the current level of access to dental and orthodontic services is not where it needs to be. It needs to be improved. I know this from the various contributions that have been made tonight, having taken this debate on behalf of the Government, and from my engagement with constituents. It is important to recognise the challenges that many individuals and families are facing, whether they involve delays in accessing dental care, lengthy waiting lists for orthodontic treatment or difficulties accessing general anaesthetic. These issues are simply not good enough. As has been acknowledged, meaningful reform is needed to address these long-standing issues. Work is under way in this regard. The Department of Health is working in conjunction with the HSE to develop a focused two-year national oral health action plan to improve access to oral healthcare services, while long-term reform is under way. Completion of the action plan, which is at an advanced stage, will also be informed, insofar as possible, by the recommendations made by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health in its report on dental services. The action plan will respond to sustained service pressures, workforce constraints and growing waiting lists, particularly for children, people with additional needs and other vulnerable members of our community. The plan contains ten key action areas for implementation, including addressing waiting lists for the child dental programme and orthodontic services; a review of the dental treatment service scheme; support for recruitment, education and training for dental service positions; and support for innovation and new models of service. In the coming weeks, the Department expects to meet with the Irish Dental Association to further consult on the plan, with a view to finalising and publishing it shortly thereafter. Engagement is critically important but the publication and implementation of this plan are a priority and cannot come quick enough. I think we can all agree on this. The implementation of the plan will be overseen by an implementation oversight group jointly chaired by the Department of Health and the HSE. The Department and the HSE will continue to engage with key stakeholders to inform the delivery of the plan. I acknowledge that the current school-based appointment service for children in second, fourth and sixth class is inadequate. Delays in early intervention can result in children needing more extensive treatment in later life. The action plan will address this by reducing the appointment backlog, with an initial focus on children in sixth class. While this is an important step, it is not a substitute for a service that provides early preventative oral health care for all children. This reform will be essential to improving oral healthcare services and is aligned with our national oral health policy, Smile agus Sláinte. The success of the action plan will be enabled through addressing workforce constraints. Without a significant number of trained oral healthcare professionals, we cannot deliver the service to the level that is required. While it is encouraging that the number of dentists has increased by over 28% since 2019, this is simply not good enough. We still need more dentists, as well as dental hygienists and dental nurses, to provide the oral healthcare services that the public needs, deserves and requires. At the same time, we must maximise the role of dental hygienists, dental nurses and other dental healthcare professionals, including through the introduction of direct access, where appropriate, to enhance the capacity of our workforce. In collaboration with the Dental Council of Ireland, the scopes of practice of oral healthcare professionals, including dental hygienists, are being examined by the Department of Health to ensure each oral healthcare professional can work to the top of their licence, which is aligned with Sláintecare. Workforce reform must also be supported by a modern legislative framework. Updating the Dentists Act 1985 and introducing statutory continuous professional development are important steps in ensuring our oral healthcare services are fit for purpose and capable of meeting future demands. These reforms will help to support ongoing professional development across the dental sector. I assure the Deputies that the Minister for Health will continue the ongoing work to address both the access issues that are affecting current healthcare services and to progress work on the implementation of the oral health action plan, which sets out a body of transformational reforms. These challenges are significant but we aim to address them across a multi-year programme of work. The first phase over the next two years will have a specific focus on short-term improvements to core services aimed at improving access and reducing waiting times. At the same time, this plan will support strategic planning and progressing the necessary structural reform required to build an oral healthcare service that provides care to people, with the right care in the right place at the right time. Along with the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Murnane O'Connor, I again thank the Deputies across the House for their contributions and reiterate the Government's commitment to improving our oral healthcare services.

Sentiment score: 0.33