Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 June 2022
1456. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health the actions that he is taking to ensure that persons with an intellectual disability and who are medical card holders have access to dental services; the reasons that some dental practices in County Kilkenny are refusing medical card holders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29196/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am aware that over the last couple of years a number of contracted dentists have chosen to opt out of the Dental Treatment Services Scheme and that medical card patients in some parts of the country have been experiencing problems in accessing dental services.
In order to address these issues I secured an additional €10 million in Budget 2022, which has provided for expanded dental health care for medical card holders. To address the concerns of contractors about the viability of the Scheme, I am also using an estimated €16 million of an underspend in this year’s estimate allocation (€56 million) to award fee increases across a number of items including fillings and restorations. These measures, introduced on 1st May, are designed to address immediate concerns with the Scheme, pending a more substantive reform of dental services to align with the National Oral Health Policy. I hope that this substantial additional investment in the Scheme will encourage more and more dentists to provide care to medical card patients. The HSE will assist anyone who is still experiencing problems accessing a service.
As the provision of dental services to persons with an intellectual disability is a service issue, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond direct the Deputy as soon as possible on this matter.
