Vol. 495 No. 4
238 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on the practice of health boards ceasing to provide free dental treatment for children over the age of 14 where their parents do not have a medical card; and his further views on whether this is a backward step in health care provision, carried out without any research into its long-term effects. [20287/98]
Dental treatment services for children are being developed in accordance with the dental health action plan. The plan provides for the extension of eligibility for dental services to children after they leave national school up to 16 years of age on a phased basis. In the initial phase of the plan eligibility for dental services has already been extended to children up to their fourteenth birthday. I will further extend entitlement up to 16 years of age as soon as additional resources are available.
