Vol. 549 No. 2
90 Ms Clune asked the Minister for Health and Children if his attention has been drawn to the long delays in trying to obtain orthodontic treatment in the Southern Health Board region; his plans to address this situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6132/02]
The provision of orthodontic treatment to eligible persons is the statutory responsibility of the health boards in the first instance. I recognise that the waiting times for orthodontic treatment are unacceptably long. Consequently, I have initiated a range of measures to substantially increase the capacity of the orthodontic service and reduce the waiting times for treatment.
At the invitation of my Department, a group representative of health board management and consultant orthodontists reviewed the orthodontic services. The objective of this review was to ensure equity in the provision of orthodontic treatment throughout the health boards. Following this review structural changes are being introduced in the orthodontic services. These changes include the creation of the grade of specialist in orthodontics, the development of specialist training programmes and the creation of an auxiliary grade of orthodontic therapist to work in the orthodontic area. Six dentists from the Eastern Regional Health Authority, North Eastern Health Board and South Eastern Health Board commenced their training last October for specialist in orthodontics qualifications. My Department has provided €0.541 million in 2002 for specialist in orthodontics training. Furthermore, three dentists from the Western Health Board and North Eastern Health Board are already in specialist training for orthodontics and this brings the total number of dentists in such training to nine. Discussions on providing an additional training course to commence this year are also under way.
My Department has funded the appointment of a director of specialist training for the Irish Committee for Specialist Training in Dentistry through the Post Graduate Medical and Dental Board. The director has taken up duty and will play a pivotal role in assisting the different agencies involved in dental specialist training programmes. In addition, 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 qualifications in orthodontics. Capital funding of approximately €1.27 million was also provided to the orthodontics unit there for its refurbishment to an appropriate standard.
