Sinn Féin councillor Conor D. McGuinness has highlighted issues facing dental care patients in Dungarvan and Co. Waterford, and called on the Minister for Health to take urgent and strategic action to reduce waits for dental care. He made the comments during the July meeting of the HSE Regional Health Forum, where he was the only West Waterford representative to attend.
McGuinness said:
“Not a week goes by that I am not contacted by a constituent about the delays in getting an appointment for a dentist, or being able to get seen on a medical card. This is despite the best efforts of local dentists that are doing their very best to look after their patients.
“The Irish Dental Association is telling us that the dental care sector is severely challenged by a lack of strategic planning at government level. The majority of dentists are experiencing difficulties in hiring additional dentists, and up to 80% of dentists who are still on the public Dental Treatment Service Scheme are not taking new public patients.
“The Dental Treatment Service Scheme (DTSS) itself is collapsing due to underfunding and capacity challenges. There were only 1,045 dentists on the scheme in January 2023, which is less than one-third of dentists. There were 1,490 dentists on the scheme in 2019.
“The real number of dentists actively providing services under the scheme is much lower. Only 634 dentists submitted claims under the scheme by the end of 2022. In real terms, that is a severe reduction of up to 800 less dentists providing services to public patients.
“The DTSS is not working. We need a new, modern contract for public dentistry. The private sector is struggling to provide services for private patients as it is, with one-in-six patients waiting over three months for appointments.
“The Minister for Health needs to take urgent action to address the crisis. My colleague and Sinn Féin health spokesperson David Cullinane has been raising this issue at national level and has called for a new, ambitious strategic plan for dentistry. That must include workforce planning and a significant increase in the number of dentists we are training. In Sinn Féin’s alternative budget, we proposed a substantial increase in the number of dentists in training by 35%, or 60 additional students.
“We have also proposed a substantial increase in public dentistry provision, starting with screening in schools and dental care for children, as well as directly employed dentists to provide dental care for public patients.
“We have not seen the level of ambition that is needed from government, and this is exacerbating severe waits for dental care.”
Conor D. McGuinness TD 