Brian O'Shea
Question:60 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Health the steps, if any, he intends to take to re-establish a dental scheme for medical card holders in the Waterford community care area; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Waterford Dental Scheme.
For the past few years my Department has made a special additional allocation available to the South Eastern Health Board specifically for the development of dental services for adult medical card holders and their dependants. The special additional allocation provided in 1991 for this purpose was £285,000 and the South Eastern Health Board's original allocation for 1992 includes a repeat of this special provision for the continuing development of the adult dental services.
These special allocations will have enabled the board to provide approximately an additional 2,920 adult dental treatments in Waterford in 1991-92. In addition the board provides emergency dental treatment for the relief of pain and psepsis on demand in their dental clinics.
All the funds at my disposal for the provision of dental services in 1992 have been allocated to the health boards. Funding for the provision of dental services in 1993 is under consideration in the context of the 1993 Estimates.