Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 21 Jun 1994

Vol. 444 No. 1

Written Answers. - School Dental Service.

Ivan Yates

Ceist:

139 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the lack of dental services for children in the South-Eastern Health Board and particularly in the Enniscorthy area of County Wexford whereby only children in the sixth class of primary school are being catered for; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that the waiting list in the county has over 5,000 names on it; the steps, if any, he will take to recruit a further dentist to the Enniscorthy area in view of the fact that the existing health board dentist is cutting down to two days a week; and the immediate steps, if any, he will take to have this situation resolved.

Minister for Health (Mr. Howlin)

As I recently announced in the national health strategy the deficiencies in the public dental service will be tackled over the next four years in the context of an integrated dental development plan based on the principles of equity, quality of service and accountability.

National school dental services throughout the country will be developed to ensure that a number of classes are screened and that treatment is provided as necessary. It is my intention that variations between health boards and within health boards which can adversely affect access to and quality of the services provided at local level are removed. To this end, cognisance will be taken of particular requirements of individual health boards.

At present my Department is addressing the detailed resource requirements for the phased implementation of the dental plan in conjunction with the health boards. My Department is in consultation with the South Eastern Health Board regarding its requirements with a view to commencing the development plan for its area, including Wexford, this year and over the period of the Programme for a Partnership Government as resources allow.

Developments in the school dental service will result in the further improvement of real health levels of the national school population in a very cost effective manner.