Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
1956. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the significant reduction of dentists in County Wicklow that accept medical card patients; the options that are available to medical card holders who cannot access dental care in their home county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43852/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) provides dental care free of charge to medical card holders aged 16 and over. Both I and the Government have been concerned for some time that medical card patients in some parts of the country have been experiencing problems in accessing dental services. The problem became particularly acute over the last couple of years as a significant number of contracted dentists chose to opt out of the DTSS.
I secured an additional €10 million in Budget 2022 to provide for expanded dental health care for medical card holders including the reintroduction of Scale and Polish. To address the concerns of contractors about the viability of the Scheme, I am 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. The combination of these two measures represents an estimated total additional investment of €26 million in the Scheme this year over and above what was spent on the Scheme in 2021, €40 million.
Following consultation with the Irish Dental Association, these new measures came into effect on 1st May. I would hope that this substantial additional investment in the Scheme will encourage more and more dentists to provide care to medical card patients, including in Wicklow.
These measures 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. The HSE will assist anyone still experiencing problems accessing a service under the Scheme.
