Carol Nolan warns Offaly children missing vital dental checks
Carol Nolan raised concerns about children in her Offaly constituency who are not receiving scheduled HSC Dental Service checks until secondary school. She called for immediate talks with the Irish Dental Association and an urgent ministerial direction to the Department of Health to begin independently chaired discussions on a new scheme to replace the medical card scheme.
Children in Offaly who should be seen by the HSC Dental Service three times before the age of 12 are reportedly only seeing a dentist for the first time when they are in transition year. Nolan said these problems were first highlighted at an emergency meeting with the Irish Dental Association in Portlaoise three years ago and expressed shock at how services have deteriorated.
Nolan demanded the immediate commencement of discussions with the Irish Dental Association to address the crisis in recruitment and retention of dentists. She also urged an urgent ministerial direction to the Department of Health to commence independently chaired talks on a replacement scheme for the medical card scheme.
The Taoiseach acknowledged difficulties in having enough dentists on the public side and more broadly to meet demand and noted a number of new training programmes. The Taoiseach mentioned the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland opening a specific training programme in Connolly that will be used to both train and treat, as part of efforts to maximise dental services for children.
Nolan asked for details of the Offaly cases to be forwarded so she could be better informed and reiterated the need for action to secure developmental checks for children. Both sides indicated a willingness to pursue training and talks to address recruitment, retention and service delivery issues.
Primary concern
Children in Offaly who should be seen by the HSC Dental Service three times before the age of 12 are reportedly only seeing a dentist for the first time when they are in transition year. Nolan said these problems were first highlighted at an emergency meeting with the Irish Dental Association in Portlaoise three years ago and expressed shock at how services have deteriorated.
Calls for negotiations
Nolan demanded the immediate commencement of discussions with the Irish Dental Association to address the crisis in recruitment and retention of dentists. She also urged an urgent ministerial direction to the Department of Health to commence independently chaired talks on a replacement scheme for the medical card scheme.
Government response and training programmes
The Taoiseach acknowledged difficulties in having enough dentists on the public side and more broadly to meet demand and noted a number of new training programmes. The Taoiseach mentioned the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland opening a specific training programme in Connolly that will be used to both train and treat, as part of efforts to maximise dental services for children.
Information and next steps
Nolan asked for details of the Offaly cases to be forwarded so she could be better informed and reiterated the need for action to secure developmental checks for children. Both sides indicated a willingness to pursue training and talks to address recruitment, retention and service delivery issues.
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Transcript
I have been informed that school children within my constituency of Offaly, who should be seen by the HSC Dental Service three times before the age of 12, are actually only seeing a dentist for the first time when they are well into secondary school. These concerns were raised with me by the Irish Dental Association at an emergency meeting in Portlaoise three years ago. However, I was shocked to hear how far the services have deteriorated since that time. We now know that children in Offaly are not receiving the first of their three dental checks until they are in transition year. There needs to be an immediate commencement of discussions with the Irish Dental Association to address the crisis in recruitment and retention of dentists. In addition to this, an urgent ministerial direction to the Department of Health must be issued in order to commence independently chaired discussions with the Irish Dental Association on a new scheme to replace the medical card scheme. We cannot continue with this scenario, Taoiseach, we need action at the matter. Thank you for highlighting this really important issue and it is correct to say that we are struggling with having enough dentists both on the public side and more broadly to meet the need and in particular the developmental checks that are so important. I am not aware of the specific case in Offaly but I would be so glad if you might forward me the information that I can be better informed. I have met initially on this very significant issue. I know that there are a number of different new training programmes particularly the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland opening a specific training programme in Connolly which will be used to both train and treat at the same time and we have to use every lever that we can to maximise dental services particularly for children with their developmental checks. If you would send me those details I would appreciate it.