Vol. 545 No. 4
259 Mr. Aylward asked the Minister for Health and Children if facilities will be made available to the South-Eastern Health Board to administer dental treatment to persons with disabilities; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that persons must at present travel to the University Dental School and Hospital in Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30717/01]
The provision of dental treatment to patients with special needs is the responsibility of the health boards in the first instance.
The chief executive officer of the South-Eastern Health Board (SEHB) has informed me that the board provides dental treatment to children with special needs. Furthermore children requiring dental treatment under general anaesthetic are treated at some of the board's general hospitals. The board occasionally refers patients with special needs who are medically compromised for treatment to Cork Dental School and Hospital and the administrative officer of that hospital has informed me that ten patients from the SEHB were referred to it in 2001 for restorative treatment under general anaesthetic.
