Responsibility for the provision of orthodontic treatment to the person concerned rests with the Southern Health Board. My Department has asked the chief executive officer of the board to investigate the matter raised by the Deputy and to reply to him directly.
The chief executive officer of the Southern Health Board (SHB) has informed me that at the end of the September 2002 quarter, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 6,165 cases awaiting orthodontic assessment in the board's area. The chief executive officer has further informed me that at the end of the same quarter, there were 3,067 cases receiving orthodontic treatment in the SHB. This is an increase of 767 patients when compared with the end of the December 2001 quarter.
I am pleased to inform the Deputy that I have taken a range of measures to improve orthodontic services on a national basis that will impact positively in the SHB area. A grade of specialist in orthodontics has been created to address the issues of recruitment and retention of qualified clinical personnel in the orthodontic service. In addition, my Department expects to fund eleven dentists this year from various health boards for specialist in orthodontics qualifications at training programmes in Ireland and at two separate universities in the United Kingdom. This is an aggregate of eighteen public service dentists currently in training for specialist in orthodontics qualifications. The creation of an auxiliary grade of orthodontic therapist is another structural measure being introduced in order to increase the number of orthodontic treatments.
In the short-term, additional funding of €6.729 million was approved for orthodontic services last year of which €4.698 million was to fund an initiative on orthodontic waiting lists. For its initiative the SHB received an additional €1.032 million and this is enabling the board to, inter alia, recruit additional staff. Furthermore, my Department has provided additional funding of €5 million from the treatment purchase fund to health boards specifically for the purchase of orthodontic treatment. The SHB received €0.720 million from this fund for the treatment of cases in this way.
My Department has also funded the recruitment of a professor in orthodontics at Cork university dental school to facilitate the development of an approved training programme leading to specialist qualification in orthodontics. Finally, I expect that the number of patients in orthodontic treatment will continue to increase as the measures that I have taken to improve orthodontic services take effect.