Kieran O'Donnell
Limerick City · Fine Gael · Ireland
“The triangle of supports of home care, day care and meals on wheels services — including dementia-specific supports — plays a vital role in helping older people to age well in their own communities. Meals on wheels services provide much more than nutritious meals.”
“The organisation currently operates a day care service four days per week, supporting approximately 60 registered users, and a meals on wheels service with 104 registered users. The HSE has advised that increased funding has been committed to support the organisation.”
“I join the Leas-Chathaoirleach in welcoming the Kellehers to the Seanad, which is a beautiful building in its own right. I thank Senator Kelleher for raising this important matter. He has advocated for Westgate Foundation over a sustained period of time and that has to be acknowledged. I know the work it does is close to his heart.”
“I again thank the Senator for raising Westgate Foundation in Ballincollig and the work it does on behalf of the community, particularly older people. The Senator referred to housing on-site. It is very much an integrated model. I could see how committed the staff and the board, many of them voluntary, were.”
“The Government has significantly increased investment in meals on wheels services in recent years. Funding increased from €3.5 million in 2022 to €6.25 million in 2025, with a further €2 million allocated in budget 2026 to support service expansion and maintenance.”
“The shared objective of the HSE and Westgate Foundation is to ensure high-quality day care and meals on wheels services continue to be available to older people who rely on them, particularly in the greater Ballincollig area.”
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“I encourage all carers to apply for this grant on an annual basis. It comes automatically to those in receipt of the carer's allowance or carer's benefit, but people who are not in receipt of those payments should still apply. Carer's benefit is based on social insurance contributions. It is a very effective payment for people who may be required to leave the workforce or reduce their working hours to care for a person in need of full-time care. It is payable for a period of up to two years for each care recipient and is estimated to cost almost €58 million this year. As part of budget 2025 and since January, carer's benefit has been made available to the self-employed for the first time.”
“It is important to acknowledge that a range of supports for carers provided by the Department of Social Protection are not based on a means assessment, such as the carer's support grant, carer's benefit and the domiciliary care allowance. In recent years, we have progressively improved the rates of these payments and widened their accessibility to family carers. The carer's support grant, which people know historically as the respite care grant, is a payment for all full-time carers, even those not in receipt of carer's allowance. It can be claimed by carers regardless of their means or social insurance contributions. As part of budget 2025, the annual carer's support grant was increased by €150 to €2,000 from July. The rate of this grant has increased by €300 since 2021 and is now at its highest ever rate.”
“This approach was maintained and continued in budget 2025, and it is our intention to continue this pattern in budget 2026. There have been calls to abolish the means test from 1 January 2026. I thank the Social Democrats for tabling the motion on this issue. I have listened to the various inputs of the Deputies regarding the complete abolition of the means test for carer's allowance from 1 January 2026. The Government has been very clear on this issue. It is our intention to abolish the means test and we have set out a definitive timeline in the programme for Government. We have committed to phasing out the means test during the lifetime of the Government. We cannot do it in just one budget. We need to phase it in over a period.”
“I thank all Deputies for their contributions to this important debate. On behalf of the Government, I acknowledge the great work provided by carers. I say that on a human level. We all deal with them every day, both in our daily lives and as public representatives. I want to put that on record. The Government is very aware of the valuable work being carried out by family carers. This is evidenced by the extensive measures that have been taken to support carers in recent years. The approach to date has been targeted and has involved increases to payment rates in conjunction with widening eligibility to payments through, for example, increasing the income disregards for the carer's allowance and making carer's benefit available to the self-employed.”
“The HSE CEO has also commissioned an audit to assess the governance and inequity in access to care within CHI, especially regarding the balance between public and private patient management. Further consideration will be given to any additional actions required. The HSE CHI improvement steering group, co-chaired by the REO for Dublin and the midlands and the chief clinical officer, is co-ordinating the oversight of the implementation of the recommendations from the completed reviews, including the audit of developmental dysplasia hip surgeries in CHI. I assure the House that the Minister for Health remains fully committed to the improvement of waiting lists, including in respect of children awaiting paediatric orthopaedic surgeries.”
“The Minister for Health is conscious of the impact the prolonged waiting times are having on patients and their families. The Deputy has brought up the specific case of his constituents. The waiting list action plan 2025 follows an outcomes-informed approach and specifically focuses on reducing the length of time that patients wait for care. The total CHI paediatric orthopaedic waiting list has reduced compared with this time last year. Importantly, the length of time children are waiting has also decreased. Nevertheless, the Deputy raised the specific situation of his constituent, and I acknowledge that. Work is ongoing to improve services, including a migration to a central referral system and a national reporting initiative to increase capacity.”
“Once again, I thank Deputy Ó Cearúil for the attention he has given to this important matter. As I already said, I am taking the matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. Once again, the Deputy will appreciate that I cannot speak on individual cases, but I do want to acknowledge the matters he has raised in respect of his constituents. The procedure needs to go ahead as scheduled. That is hugely important. I acknowledge the angst and anxiety caused to families when operations and procedures are cancelled. I acknowledge that. I will bring the three points the Deputy has raised to the attention of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and the Department. I suggest the Deputy also communicate formally with the Department on this matter.”
“This group was established by the HSE CEO in recognition of the need to co-ordinate oversight of a range of matters of focus in CHI in a cohesive fashion. This group most recently met on 29 September 2025, and senior officials from the Department of Health attend these meetings. The improvement of waiting times and particularly waiting times experienced by children and young people remains a priority for the Minister for Health. The Minister is committed to ensure that reform remains centred around putting the child and their family at the very heart of our paediatric services.”
“All patients and families were sent a letter from CHI and the National Orthopaedic Hospital in Cappagh about the next steps that will apply to them and their child, and how they can get further information or support. As of Tuesday, 23 September, a total of 196 patients have had clinical reviews as part of the multidisciplinary team clinics. In relation to retrospective reviews of cases to determine the indications for surgery, the HSE is establishing a separate process involving external experts. It is expected that the panel will be established in the coming weeks and that the review of individual cases will commence in January 2026. The recently established HSE CHI improvement steering group is overseeing the progress of these reviews.”
“This highlights that the waiting lists are trending in the right direction. I acknowledge the case he has raised on behalf of his constituents, however. Further developments to these lists are under way, including the migration of the specialty to a central referral system. The NTPF has advised the Department of Health that it has approved both outpatient and inpatient and day case initiatives for orthopaedics, which will facilitate treatment for patients on these waiting lists in Children’s Health Ireland. As the Deputy is aware, the final report of the developmental dysplasia of the hip audit was published on Friday, 23 May. The Minister’s immediate priority following the publication of the Thomas audit was to ensure there was clinical follow-up and care for patients who had undergone pelvic osteotomy surgery.”
“According to the NTPF, the total outpatient waiting list for orthopaedics in CHI was 3,406 at the end of August 2025. This compares to a total of 3,930 waiting at the same time last year. This is a 13% decrease. Additionally, the inpatient and day case waiting list for orthopaedics in CHI reduced from 764 in August 2024 to 671 in August 2025. This is a 12% reduction. Further, the percentage of inpatient and day care patients within the Sláintecare targets was 27.3% at the end of August 2025. This is compared to 22.1% at the same time last year. I can also advise the Deputy that for Kildare specifically, the number of children waiting for inpatient and day case paediatric orthopaedic procedures in CHI has reduced from 58 in August 2024 to 46 in August 2025. This is a 20% decrease.”
“It is acknowledged that acute hospital waiting lists are too long, and many patients are waiting an unacceptably long time for care. The Government is focused on having a public healthcare service in which everyone has timely access to high-quality scheduled care, where and when they need it. Since the commencement of the waiting list action plan approach in September 2021, significant progress has been made in reducing both the number of patients on waiting lists and the length of time they are waiting. In relation to the Deputy’s particular query on paediatric hip surgery waiting lists in north Kildare, I can advise that the National Treatment Purchase Fund. NTPF, does not publish data on subspecialties. Therefore, I will refer to the orthopaedic waiting list, within which hip surgeries are a subspeciality.”
“I thank Deputy Ó Cearúil for raising this matter. I am taking this debate and matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. Deputy Ó Cearúil will appreciate that I cannot talk about individual cases before the Chamber. Obviously, if the Deputy has questions in relation to individuals, they can be raised directly with the Department of Health. I acknowledge the case he has highlighted, however. While I cannot specifically talk about it, I acknowledge how difficult it has been for the family. I welcome the fact that the procedure has now been scheduled. It should not have had to come to this, and I appreciate that. I acknowledge that he has raised it, but I cannot speak about individual cases.”
“Significant investment through schemes, such as the urban regeneration and development fund, the vacant property refurbishment grant and the repair and leasing scheme, are helping both local authorities and ordinary people to bring vacant and derelict properties back into use and revitalise towns across the country. With regard to derelict sites, my Department initiated a review of the Derelict Sites Act and invited local authorities to make initial submissions on potential improvements to the legislative provisions and the way they are applied. I again thank the Deputy for raising this issue and providing me with an opportunity to inform and update the House.”
“Substantial progress is being made on delivering on the town centre first approach and the vacant homes action plan through the provision of dedicated staff and resources for the dereliction and vacancy issues I referenced. These are being complemented by the financial supports for planning reforms aimed at converting underutilised buildings to new homes in our towns and urban areas. The range of measures being taken by the Government to address vacancy and dereliction are having a real success and vacancy levels are declining.”
“Once again, I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. Addressing vacancy and dereliction is a key priority for the Government. As I stated, I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne. As I mentioned, with to regard to dereliction and vacancy in Ireland, particularly in small towns and villages, the Government is taking a proactive, co-ordinated and whole-of-government approach, which recognises the importance of supporting and empowering local businesses and residents to make real and lasting change in their communities. The Deputy referenced local authorities. Many local authorities have specific vacant homes and properties teams operating.”
“The new programme for Government, Securing Ireland’s Future, also includes actions that aim to further continue work on town centre living and regeneration challenges. These measures will be considered in the context of the forthcoming new national housing plan that is currently being prepared by my Department, including consideration of potential funding and financial supports to assist in encouraging the use of vacant or derelict buildings in towns and cities for new homes. I will bring back the point the Deputy raised to the Minister.”
“These exemptions can be combined with other funding supports, such as the vacant property refurbishment grant and the repair and leasing scheme, in order to bring buildings into residential use. At the end of quarter 2 of 2025, over 13,730 applications had been received for the vacant property refurbishment grant and almost 10,000 had been approved. Over 2,800 grants have been paid to date as refurbishment works have been completed. Further information on the range of supports is available on the Department’s website. This month, the CSO released new vacancy data for 2022 and 2023. It notes a national vacancy rate of 3.3% at the end of 2023, dropping from 3.6% in 2022. While varying levels of vacancy are indicated in different data sources, the overall trend is downwards and vacancy levels are declining nationally.”
“On completion of the most recent review of this element of the URDF programme, over 1,370 residential and commercial properties were approved by the Department for inclusion in the approved programmes for all 31 local authorities. My Department has also introduced planning and development regulations that provide an exemption from the need to obtain planning permission for the change of use of certain vacant commercial buildings to residential use, including above-the-shop living. The most recent local authority returns from 2024 show that local authorities have received notifications of 1,457 exempted development proposals to date, with plans put forward that result in the provision of 3,429 new homes nationwide.”
“In addition, where local authorities find that the acquisition of particular derelict properties is the appropriate mechanism to return them to use, they are enabled by the provisions of the Derelict Sites Act to acquire them compulsorily. This approach is now supported through the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, which has established a €150 million revolving fund specifically for local authorities to acquire vacant or derelict properties, residential and-or commercial, if necessary, using their compulsory purchase powers, and to carry out any associated works needed to make them more attractive for use or sale.”
“In March 2025, the Minister, Deputy Browne, published the 2025 progress report, which shows the significant progress being made in tackling vacancy and is available on my Department's website. A key focus in the action plan relates to the interaction with the Government's town centre first policy approach, which was launched by my Department and the then Department of Rural and Community Development in 2022. Town centre first provides a whole-of-government policy framework to address the decline in the health of towns and support measures to revitalise them. To drive the delivery of town centre first, dedicated town regeneration officers are now established within local authorities and are working in concert with vacant homes officers and other local authority staff to tackle dereliction and develop regeneration initiatives.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue and giving me this opportunity to update Members on the issue of vacancy and dereliction. I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne. Tackling vacancy and dereliction is a key priority for the Government. The reuse of vacant and derelict properties can provide much-needed housing, while also being a catalyst to revitalising communities. A number of national structures have now been established, including a dedicated vacant homes unit in my Department, a full-time vacant homes officer in each local authority and the implementation of a vacant homes action plan to ensure co-ordinated, cross-Government action.”
“Improved engagement, collaboration and partnership nationally and internationally will help to drive strong research innovation for all aspects associated with living with rare diseases. The established national rare disease research group has outlined that a new rare disease strategy will be an important step forward in providing a structured, co-ordinated, multi-actor and strategic approach to rare diseases research in Ireland. I will bring the case of Elizabeth, and more particularly that of her son, Leo, to the attention of the Minister. I will put that in the context of the upcoming budget as well.”
“I appreciate how difficult it is for Elizabeth, Leo and his family. Once again, I thank the Deputy for providing the opportunity to discuss this important matter. As previously stated, it is hoped that through the implementation of the recently launched national rare disease strategy, we can increase rare disease research opportunity in Ireland. Knowing that meaningful research is being undertaken offers hope for the future as well as possibly leading to treatment options. By building on the work already undertaken through the rare disease clinical trial network, the rare diseases research and innovation catalyst award and through participation in the European Rare Disease Research Alliance, we can foster a cohesive research environment that responds to the needs of people living with rare diseases and clinicians.”
“The strategy also recommends that opportunities for rare disease-specific funded research calls, targeting both indigenous research and greater participation in international consortia, be increased, as well as ensuring that healthcare professionals are supported and encouraged to pursue research in rare diseases and provided with the dedicated time to do so. By streamlining collaboration and establishing stronger relationships between stakeholders through the development of a clear and co-ordinated approach, research efforts can be better integrated into the health system and have greater impact on patient outcomes.”
“Recognising that improved engagement, collaboration and partnership both nationally and internationally with industry, Government, representative organisations, healthcare professionals and academic partners will help to drive strong research and innovation for all aspects of living with rare diseases, the new rare disease strategy recommends that a national rare disease research group be established to provide a structured, co-ordinated, multi-actor and strategic approach to ensuring more high-quality rare diseases research in Ireland.”
“Organisations such as Health Research Charities Ireland and Taighde Éireann - Research Ireland, have a central role to play in funding and supporting research initiatives related to rare diseases through the provision of grant schemes, co-funding of research projects and programmes and partnerships that prioritise rare diseases. Research in Ireland is further supported by the involvement of patient advocacy groups such as the Irish Platform for Patients Organisations, Science and Industry, IPPOSI, and Rare Diseases Ireland, RDI, which, through ensuring that research is aligned with patient priorities, advocate and provide a voice for the needs of people with rare diseases and ensure their perspectives are included in research agendas.”
“Greater knowledge of rare diseases is important for the development of novel therapeutics, treatment strategies and facilitation of more responsive and appropriate services for people living with a rare disease, their families and circle of support. Research is also important for supporting the recruitment, retention and motivation of healthcare personnel who will drive the development of quality services. Substantial advancements have been made to embed research within Ireland’s healthcare system, and the Department of Health has ensured that research is a key aspect of strategies and frameworks, such as the national rare disease strategy. In Ireland, several organisations have their own specific roles in contributing towards the advancement of rare diseases research.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am responding on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. As the Deputy will be aware, Okur-Chung is an ultra-rare neurodevelopmental syndrome with an estimated 160 individuals living with this syndrome globally. Okur-Chung was first identified in 2016 and, as such there is still much we do not know about this syndrome. However, ongoing international research seeks to provide a better understanding of Okur-Chung syndrome and explore possible treatment options. The recently published national rare disease strategy acknowledges the important role research plays in developing a better understanding of the mechanisms of disease which can enable early diagnosis, earlier treatment and overall better health outcomes for people.”
“I am not in any way questioning the Deputy, but on the process, they have been waiting a long time. Once they are moved over along with the staff, the HSE has assured me locally, and I have made very up-to-date inquiries, that it has the resources staff-wise to be able to move and scale up to the 50-bed unit very quickly. Looking at the cycle of it, we are in the month of September and certainly it will not happen before the end of September. I think that is reasonable to say. We are looking, I hope, at it happening in the month of October. However, once again, I have to work within the parameters that are set down. The key element at the moment is for HIQA to give registration. Once the registration is granted, everything else will move along at pace. We will then have the new 50-bed community nursing home unit in Nenagh up and running.”
“I appreciate the frustration of people, including the residents of St. Conlon's and the people in the area. I have gone through this intensively and there is a process. There is an application before HIQA. It takes an average of about ten working days to assess an application. The application has gone in within the past week. I cannot pre-empt the outcome of the registration by HIQA, but it is normally a ten-day working cycle, and once that is complete, the residents who are in St. Conlon's will be brought to the new nursing home to pick out the rooms they wish. I regard them as a priority.”
“As Deputy Kelly mentioned, to alleviate the significant pressures at UHL the decision was taken to use the new Nenagh community nursing home building on an interim basis as a step-down sub-acute and rehabilitation facility for UHL, run by a private provider with expertise in such services. The Deputy will appreciate one of the reasons was to dovetail that with the opening of the new 96-bed unit. That will happen relatively quickly, so the intention is the new 50-bed nursing home will be up and running relatively soon after HIQA has granted the registration. The first step will be to get the existing residents in St. Conlon's over and then to scale it up to 50 beds. The HSE has the requisite staff in place to do that. The HSE is advising me of that.”
“The process at the moment is the HSE has taken vacant possession of the new nursing home, it has applied to HIQA in the past week for a licence and HIQA is currently assessing the application. Once HIQA grants the application - I hope that will be relatively soon but obviously the Deputy will appreciate it is independent in the way it assesses applications - then the residents currently in St. Conlon's will move to the nursing home along with the staff. Then the HSE will proceed to scale up to the 50 beds. It advises me it has the requisite staff to ensure that can happen. I hope that will happen relatively quickly.”
“HIQA is currently assessing the application. It would be expected that will be processed quickly. As part of the process, which I want to work with, the first element is that the residents who are currently in St. Conlon's will be moved to the new nursing home. They will be facilitated in this regard once HIQA has done the inspection and obviously issued the licence to operate as a nursing home. These people will then be able to pick the rooms they wish to pick. They will have first choice from what is there, which is only appropriate. The staff who are currently in St. Conlon's will move over with the residents to the new nursing home. I am advised by the HSE that it has the requisite staff and will have the requisite staff to scale up to the full complement of 50 residents in the nursing home.”
“I thank Deputy Kelly. I know of his keen and genuine interest in this particular subject. I will deal with the questions he actually raises. I have an answer there for him. I am going straight to the capital programme. As part of this capital programme, older persons' services in north Tipperary are being enhanced by the opening of a new state-of-the-art 50-bed community nursing unit in Nenagh to replace St. Conlon’s Community Nursing Unit. As the Deputy said, there was a €24 million investment. The new Nenagh community nursing unit will provide a high-quality living environment which will be in line with all regulatory requirements. On the issues the Deputy particularly raises, as he is aware the HSE has vacant possession now of the new nursing home. It has applied to HIQA for registration as a designated facility for older people.”
“I will bring the matter raised by the Deputy in terms of the upcoming budget to the attention of the Minister and the Department.”
“Outside this, a joint Department-HSE programmatic approach to primary care waiting lists is also under way to develop short-term and long-term solutions to long waiting lists for primary care services. The Minister wishes to again assure the Deputy that this Government remains committed to the further development of primary care and community healthcare services as part of the programme for Government. HSE South West is also working to reducing the waiting lists for primary care psychology as evidenced by the initiatives to which I previously referred, including advanced recruitment efforts, building capacity for the future and the introduction of bespoke waiting list initiatives targeted at children and young people who need to avail of this very important service.”
“The Minister recognises fully the frustration of people in the local area with long waiting times for certain services and realises that much more needs to be done to fill local vacancies, address waiting lists and ensure consistent, equitable and timely access to primary care services. Since 2021, the primary care psychology waiting list initiative, which targets removals from the waiting list of those under the age of 18 waiting longer than 52 weeks to access services, has been operational. To date, the initiative has successfully removed 12,000 clients from primary care psychology waiting lists nationally. Funding for the continuation of this initiative will be allocated as part of the Estimates 2026 process.”
“The establishment of the new single point of access working group is supporting a more efficient triage of children to ensure that they access the most suitable service in a timely manner and is reducing waiting list duplication across primary care psychology, CAMHS and CDNTs. The HSE South West child psychology service waiting list improvement initiative working group has also just been established under the regional director of psychology. Its three main priorities regarding aiming to improve access to psychological services for children in the region are workforce planning and development, waiting list and capacity solutions, referral pathways and demand management and clinical service model innovation. I will bring the points raised by the Deputy to the attention of the Minister and the Department.”
“In terms of increasing capacity, there has also been a significant increase in 2025 for doctoral training places for psychology - clinical and educational programmes - in the region, with a total of 18 trainees funded by HSE South West who commenced in September 2025. This is part of a sustained trainee programme that now has 45 trainees in the system over a three-year cycle. All graduates will be offered a permanent post in the region on completion of training, capitalising on the investment and thereby improving staff to population ratios and reducing waiting lists. HSE South West has also highlighted several key initiatives currently in process and aimed at improving access to services.”
“In June 2025, the regional executive officer appointed a regional director of psychology with a specific focus on reviewing psychological services, including workforce planning, reviewing the service provision model and considering other psychological support services that can meet the needs of the population. Progress has also been made in relation to advancing recruitment to fill allocated vacancies in the Kerry primary care psychology service. National primary care funding was allocated to HSE South West mid-2025 to initiate waiting list initiatives to increase access to psychological intervention for children and young people on existing primary care waiting lists.”
“As well as looking at the long-term changes that are needed, the programme of work will also examine what can be done to address those waiting over a year on access to primary care therapies. This approach involves three main workstreams that aim to improve access to primary care therapy services by analysing activity and maximising capacity, developing national measures to reduce long wait times and creating a consistent management protocol for referrals and waiting lists to these services. At a regional level, HSE South West has highlighted significant work that is currently under way to enhance access to primary care psychology in Kerry.”
“These factors all contribute to an increase in waiting lists for primary care services, including primary care psychology services across the country, including in Cork and Kerry. To address long waiting times at a national level, the Department of Health is working with the HSE on a focused programmatic approach to primary care waiting list management to put in place considerable standardised infrastructure to support systematic responses to primary care waiting lists. This will facilitate a greater understanding of the scale and drivers of demand; allow for improved planning, interventions and investment considerations; and support the most efficient use of capacity.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of my colleague the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. Primary care psychology plays a central role in providing care and treatment to both children and adults in the community and, particularly, in offering the opportunity for early intervention for children and young people. The increased pressure and demand on primary care services, and on primary care psychology for children and young people in particular, are related to the increase in referrals and the increasing complexity of presentations requiring longer intervention times, as well as staff shortages and ongoing recruitment challenges in the community.”
“Along with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, I thank Deputies across the House once again for their contributions and reiterate the Government's commitment to improving our oral healthcare services. I also thank Deputy Brian Stanley for tabling this motion.”
“This new programme will significantly increase the number of dentistry places available in Ireland and provide 20 new dentistry places per annum for EU-EEA students from 2025 onwards. It will also have a focus on delivering a primary care-oriented model, in line with policy. The Government remains committed to supporting oral healthcare and dental education. By enhancing our future workforce, we are taking important steps to ensuring that our national oral health policy, which supports greater access to care across the life course, is implemented. The Minister for Health will continue the ongoing work to address the access issues that are affecting current healthcare services and will progress work on implementation of the national oral health policy, which sets out a body of transformational reforms.”
“This Government is firmly committed to ensuring our healthcare services are supported by a steady, sustainable pipeline of highly skilled graduates, and one of the programme for Government commitments is to increase the number of healthcare college places, including in dentistry. The RCSI will commence a new bachelor of dental surgery this September, which will train students in a community-based model of dental education, significantly increasing the number of dentistry training places available nationally and expanding access to dental services. Last week, the Minister for Health officially opened the new Dental Education Centre in Sandyford. This is the first of three proposed facilities that the RCSI is developing to facilitate the delivery of its new bachelor of dental surgery.”
“We will progress consideration of the role of the wider dental team and expand the scope of practice of oral health professionals where appropriate. This will support increased capacity and access and give patients greater choice. To support this work, the Department is finalising the design of the first oral healthcare workforce census skills assessment. The workforce census will gather information, including the proportion of registered oral healthcare professionals who are practising in their registered profession, the services they provide and the skills they have. The census data will provide information to support the development of the sector and support workforce planning by identifying the skills that oral healthcare professionals need to provide the new model of service set out in the policy.”
“We need to consider educational models that enable students to experience care provision in community settings, including within our most vulnerable communities. We currently have more dentists on the Dental Council’s register than ever before, with 3,888 as of July 2025. There has been a steady increase in the number of registered dentists since April 2019, when Smile agus Sláinte was published, from 3,100 - an increase of more than 25% - but many more are needed. The Department of Health is committed to the development of an oral healthcare workforce plan, as set out in the national oral health policy. This workforce plan will consider how dental professionals can best support the new model of oral healthcare services and how they, in turn, can be supported with career pathways that support staff retention.”
“The HSE oral healthcare service will continue to play a core role in oral healthcare provision. The changes envisaged will increase the capacity of the HSE service to reorient and develop oral health promotion programmes. There will also be greater capacity to provide care to those more vulnerable groups in our community, including adults and children with additional needs, and adults living in residential settings. This a considerable change, based on the evidence identified. The Government will work with the sector to support these developments. A key enabler of this transition towards the Sláintecare ethos is ensuring that we have a sufficient number of appropriately trained oral healthcare professionals.”