Urgent action needed to address dental care crisis, says Cllr Clare Claffey

CLLR Clare Claffey is calling for immediate Government intervention to address the escalating crisis in dental care services in Ireland.

Highlighting a motion recently put before Dáil Éireann, Cllr Claffey, representing the Birr area on Offaly County Council, underscores the urgent need for comprehensive reforms to ensure timely and adequate dental care for all citizens, particularly children and those reliant on public dental services.

The motion acknowledges the dire state of dental care access in Ireland, noting that an estimated 104,000 children are currently on a waiting list for school dental screening services, out of 208,000 eligible children. Over the past five years, there has been a 31% reduction in the number of children seen by HSE dentists. Additionally, the number of HSE dentists has declined by 23% between 2006 and 2022.

Cllr Claffey said "I have recent personal experience of the excellent care that can be provided by the School Dentist service, but having been told that Birr will again be without a school dentist for at least six months, I can see that the system is at breaking point, and our children will be the ones to suffer because of the poor management of this government ".

The situation is equally troubling for medical card patients. The number of patients seen under the Dental Treatment Service Scheme (DTSS) has dropped by 35% in the past decade. Furthermore, the number of participating dentists has halved, from 1,600 to 810, with only 600 of these currently active.

Despite a promise from the Minister for Health in May 2021 to initiate urgent talks on a new scheme, the Irish Dental Association is still awaiting formal discussions.

The Dáil motion - sponsored by Social Democrats TDs Róisín Shortall, Holly Cairns, Gary Gannon, Catherine Murphy, Cian O’Callaghan, and Jennifer Whitmore - calls on the Government to:

- Guarantee that all primary school children receive their three school-based dental appointments at the appropriate age by 2027.

- Strengthen and expand public dental services for children and special care patients urgently.

- Provide the necessary funding in Budget 2025 to sustain the medical card scheme.

- Begin immediate engagement with the dental sector to reform the DTSS.

- Publish the heads of the new Dentists Bill by September 2024 to ensure patient safety, maintain professional competence, and improve regulatory frameworks.

- Address funding and capacity issues in dental education and prioritise workforce planning to recruit and retain staff.

Cllr Claffey has joined the Social Democrats leadership in calling for swift and decisive action from the Government to address these pressing issues in the dental care system, to ensure positive outcomes for the children of Offaly.