Pat Breen
Ceist:364 Mr. P. Breen asked the Minister for Health and Children when a person (details supplied) in County Clare will receive orthodontic treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9657/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 30 March 2004
Ceisteanna (250, 251)
Freagraí scríofa
Responsibility for the provision of orthodontic treatment to eligible persons in County Clare rests with the Mid-Western Health Board. My Department has asked the chief executive officer to investigate the matter raised by the Deputy and to reply to him directly.
Jackie Healy-Rae
Ceist:365 Mr. Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason he failed to present himself to the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children to explain his management of orthodontic services, as this service is in turmoil in south Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9716/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe provision of orthodontic services is the statutory responsibility of the health boards/authority in the first instance.
Senior officials of my Department have already appeared — on two separate occasions — before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children about the orthodontic service, on 8 November 2001 and again on 29 May 2003. My Department made detailed oral presentations at both hearings, which were followed by extensive questions and answers sessions with members of the committee. I recently advised the chairman of the committee that I would be pleased to arrange a third oral presentation to be given to the committee on this matter, or attendance by my officials if desired. The Deputy may wish to note that following its hearings in late 2001-early 2002, the committee published a report on the orthodontic service in February 2002. I am pleased to further advise the Deputy of the measures that I have taken to improve orthodontic services in the Southern Health Board area and on a national basis.
The grade of specialist in orthodontics has been created in the health board orthodontic service. In 2003, my Department and the health boards funded 13 dentists from various health boards for specialist in orthodontics qualifications at training programmes in Ireland and at three separate universities in the United Kingdom. These 13 trainees for the public orthodontic service are additional to the six dentists who commenced their training in 2001; thus, there is an aggregate of 19 dentists in specialist training for orthodontics. These measures will complement the other structural changes being introduced into the orthodontic service, including the creation of an auxiliary grade of orthodontic therapist to work in the orthodontic area.
Furthermore, the commitment of the Department to training development is manifested in the funding provided to both the training of specialist clinical staff and the recruitment of a professor in orthodontics for the Cork Dental School. This appointment at the school will facilitate the development of an approved training programme leading to specialist qualification in orthodontics. The chief executive officer of the Southern Health Board has reported that the professor commenced duty on 1 December 2003. In recognition of the importance of this post at Cork Dental School, my Department has given approval in principle to a proposal from the school to further substantially improve the training facilities there for orthodontics. This project should see the construction of a large orthodontic unit and support facilities; it will ultimately support an enhanced teaching and treatment service to the wider region under the leadership of the professor of orthodontics.
In June 2002, my Department provided additional funding of €5 million from the treatment purchase fund to health boards specifically for the purchase of orthodontic treatment. This funding is enabling boards to provide both additional sessions for existing staff and purchase treatment from private specialist orthodontic practitioners. The Southern Health Board was allocated an additional €720,000 from this fund for the treatment of cases in this way.
Finally, the chief executive officers of the health boards/authority have informed my Department that at the end of the December quarter 2003, some 21,727 children were receiving orthodontic treatment in the public orthodontic service. The chief executive officer of the Southern Health Board has informed my Department that at the end of the same period, 3,400 children were getting treatment from the board; this means that almost one out of every six children getting treatment from the public orthodontic service is from the Southern Health Board area.