I have considered the report of a survey conducted by the Oral Health Services Research Centre of University College Cork on the oral health of Irish adults in the years 1989-90. This survey provides national clinical data on the oral health status of Irish adults and found evidence of a major improvement in the oral health of Irish adults in the previous ten years. The survey also found evidence of a lower level of oral health among some sections of the community such as medical card holders and women, when compared with other sections.
The survey was carried out in 1989-90 and, as acknowledged in the report, there have been important improvements since then in the funding of dental services for medical card holders. Since 1990 an additional £2.5 million approximately per annum has been provided by my Department to health boards for the development of adult dental services. This additional funding has enabled health boards to significantly improve service levels to medical card holders. Under the Programme for Government a further £2 million has been provided in the current year for the development of the health board dental services.
I am currently developing a national health strategy for the next four years and a strategy for the development of the adult dental services is an integral part of this. An underlying principle of the strategy will be equity in the provision of services to those who need them and, in this context, I wish to ensure that there is an equitable and effective adult dental service available throughout the country.
