Rose Conway-Walsh denounces failures in public dental care
Rose Conway-Walsh spoke in the Dáil about the chronic lack of access to public dental care, reading a letter from a desperate Mayo family and criticising the government's inaction. She urged the minister to implement the measures outlined in a motion, saying dental care is a basic human right.
Mayo family's plea
A constituent letter was read describing five years without access to dental care on the medical card in Mayo. The family report that no dentists are accepting new patients, repeated phone calls and pleas have failed, and their 23-year-old daughter on a disability payment is in constant dental pain with cracked teeth, cavities and likely infection.
Extent of unmet need
The speaker detailed further hardship for the same family - the husband was told he needed dentures and was referred for full extractions, but no provider in the county would perform the work. He was sent north for treatment and returned untreated, leaving him unable to eat properly and in pain.
Government and HSE response criticised
The speaker accused the government of being "do-nothing" on dental care and said the issue has been raised repeatedly with the HSE with no effective response. The family say they feel ignored, abandoned and forgotten by a system that should care for them and cannot afford private treatment.
Motion and demands
The speaker thanked the deputies who brought the motion and said it outlines what must be done to fix the dental care system. She called on the minister to act on the repeated recommendations and to recognise public dental services as a basic human right.
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Minister, if there was ever an example of a do-nothing government, it is when it comes to dental care. And I want to read you out a letter from somebody in Mayo. I'm writing to you as a desperate mother from Mayo. For the past five years, my family has been unable to access any dental care through the medical card in our area. No one is accepting new patients, and despite endless phone calls, pleading and searching, we've hit a brick wall over and over again. My 23-year-old daughter is on a disability payment and has been in constant dental pain. She has many cracked teeth, cavities and likely infection, and she is getting to the point where she may not be able to eat soon. She's trying every day to find someone who will see her, but there is just no one available. She's only 23 and deserves so much better than this. My husband is also suffering. He is told he needed dentures, but he was referred to get all his teeth removed first, but no one in the county would do it. He was even sent to the north for treatment, but they couldn't help him, and he had to come back to Mayo untreated. He's now left in limbo, unable to eat properly, in pain, and with no idea of where to turn. Our family is at the end of our rope. We feel ignored, abandoned, and forgotten by a government and a system that is supposed to care for its people. This has become an emergency. We don't have the money to go private, and yet the public system is impossible to access. That about sums it up. Now, I don't know how many times last year I spoke on dental services and the lack of dental services in Mayo. We referred to the HSE back again, nothing there back again. For heaven's sake, will you please do something? Outlined in this motion, and I want to thank the deputies who brought this forward today, is what you need to do. It has been outlined to you over and over and over again. Can you please fix the dental care systems? It is a basic human right.
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