Vol. 500 No. 4
251 Ms Cooper-Flynn asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason there are insufficient dental services for school going children in the Belmullet area, County Mayo; and the plans, if any, his Department and the Western Health Board have to ensure that children under the age of 16 can get the dental care they are entitled to. [4074/99]
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 propose to extend entitlement up to 16 years of age later this year.
The provision of dental services to eligible persons in the Belmullet area is the statutory responsibility of the Western Health Board. I have had inquires made of the Western Health Board. I am advised by the board that there are three posts vacant on the dental staff in the Mayo community care area i.e. Castlebar, Swinford and Belmullet. Competitions for these posts were advertised in both Ireland and the UK in late 1998 but unfortunately the board received no applications.
The board is preparing to place further advertisements which it hopes will prove successful in attracting applicants.
Unfortunately, some health boards can have difficulty in filling dental posts in geographically remote areas. I have asked my Department to explore with the Western Health Board ways in which it might be possible for the board to provide an adequate dental service to children in areas which experience persistant recruitment difficulties.
