Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 May 2024
16. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if his Department is proposing the provision of a new University College Cork dental school and hospital facility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23271/24]
View answerThis question relates to the need for a new dental school and hospital facility in Cork. I was disappointed to learn recently that plans for such a facility were dropped last February. There is a major need in this regard. The current facility is old. It is too small, it is overcrowded and it is located on a busy campus. My information is that funding was the issue. I am interested to hear what the Minister has to say about this. Will he have a look and see if anything can be done to rescue the plan?
The Department of further and higher education is working closely with the Department of Health to expand the healthcare workforce capacity of the country, including oral healthcare. The Department does not place a quota on the number of places on dental courses, and the number of places offered is therefore a matter for the higher education institutions in line with their autonomy. I acknowledge, however, that due to the high level of practical work, there can be material constraints on the number of students that can be accepted onto dentistry courses. The Department works collaboratively with all higher education institutions on the development of capital projects in line with their established master plans. As an autonomous body, it is a matter for UCC to prioritise its capital projects, and in recent competitive funding rounds for capital funding by the State other priorities have been put forward ahead of the dental school by the university.
My understanding is that UCC has taken a decision to invest €15 million to refurbish the existing building to address the physical infrastructure deficits in the existing dental school and hospital. The HEA must also run an exercise to identify options for the creation of additional capacity in a range of priority healthcare disciplines including dentistry. A number of dental options, including an expansion to provision in UCC were identified. These options are reliant on additional capital investment. The Department is continuing to engage with Government colleagues to advance this process.
I thank the Minister for his response. Will he consider visiting the Cork university dental school and hospital as soon as he can? I am alarmed to discover that funding will be invested in the old building, which has been described as frail, constrained and ill equipped. What is really needed, as I am sure the Minister will agree, is a new building. Planning permission was granted for it, and it was full steam ahead. Because of Covid, inflation and so on, it did not go ahead, but the need remains and has increased. We have a long list of people in the country waiting for dental procedures. We need more places. With the talk about digital dentistry, we need a modern approach. Refurbishing an old, outdated, decrepit, small and constrained building is not really the answer. I am sure the Minister would agree with me on that. I ask him to visit there shortly. They are putting €15 million into an old building that is not fit for purpose. That is surely a waste of money, and we would surely be better off making funding available and doing a right job.
It is important to point out that UCC has received substantial government investment in recent years under a capital programme. These would have been identified by UCC. With regard to the dental school, we have to go back to 2016 when it was announced that UCC had secured a loan from the European Investment Bank, including €37 million to build a new Cork university dental school, research centre and hospital. On the more substantive issue the Deputy has asked about, I will actually be in Cork on Friday. I will be meeting some of the leadership in the university. I know this is a priority of theirs and is also a priority for the dental council because dentists have to be trained in an appropriate environment. It is also important to highlight the priorities identified by the university and made available to it from the Government included things like the business school and the Kane science redevelopment proposal, which were also successful.
I acknowledge that good work and it is hugely important but the need for a dental school and hospital remains. If I heard the Minister correctly, I am alarmed that €15 million in funding will be made available to refurbish an old building. For the sake of further, relatively small, investment we could have a state-of-the-art dental school in the south, which is badly needed. I understand the Higher Education Authority also recommended that investment be made to boost places. As the Minister stated, we have a growing population, a huge need and fairly serious waiting lists. We need more people trained and we need modern facilities that are adequate. The current facility is not adequate and putting more money into it will be a waste of funding. I ask the Minister to use his good offices to intervene in this matter and to talk to the university and his colleagues. For a relatively small amount of money, we could do a proper job and get a proper dental school and hospital in the south of Ireland. Not just Cork and UCC, but all of the south of Ireland will benefit from this. In fact, the whole country would. I ask the Minister to treat this as a priority, and when he is in Cork to go out of his way, visit that facility and see what I am talking about.
I concur with Deputy Stanton. This is a really important issue that has been raised previously. As the Deputy stated, it is an issue not just for those in the south of the country but also for everyone. There has been a 25% increase in the number of patients in the public system, and we are breaking at the seams in respect of the number of dentists there are versus the number we need. Between 24 and 26 students can go through the CAO process in that regard at the moment, but we clearly need more students to come on stream. This plan had been in place and should remain in place. It is welcome that the Minister will go to Cork on Friday and speak to people there. I hope this can be progressed and that, when he is in Cork on Friday, he will meet students. Students in UCC, UCD and Trinity have come out strongly in respect of Palestine. There have been encampments at the universities, and I hope the Minister will be willing to meet students in that context too.
For the academic year 2022-23, UCC had an intake of 50 and Trinity had 45, so the total is 100 or thereabouts. I do not disagree. This goes back to much of what the previous contributor asked about with regard to workforce planning. These are the dialogues we are having in respect of not only dentists but also pharmacists, vets, carpenters, builders and bricklayers. Regardless of the discipline, this is the area of conversation, whether in higher education or further education, about the capital requirements, the teaching requirements and the support requirements. Building a new school is not just a capital investment, which both Deputies will appreciate, and an ongoing cost is associated with it, which we will build in as we look to expand the various disciplines that are available in our colleges of further and higher education. We will examine the issue and I will revert to Deputy Stanton, by email or letter, once I have had a chance to meet the UCC authorities.
