Michael Ring
Ceist:216 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Health and Children the stage in national school at which children are seen by dentists. [25575/98]
Vol. 497 No. 5
216 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Health and Children the stage in national school at which children are seen by dentists. [25575/98]
217 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Health and Children if primary school children are still called for dental treatment in second and sixth classes; and, if not, when the regulations changed in this regard. [25576/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 216 and 217 together.
The statutory entitlement of children attending national school to dental services is established under section 67 of the Health Act 1970. Under this section, children attending national school are entitled to dental treatment for defects noticed at school health examinations. For the past number of years health boards have been progressively adopting a planned targeted approach to the delivery of dental services to national school children and phasing out a demand led system. This is to ensure the optimum use of dental resources and equal access for all national school children to the same level of dental care.