Michael Collins TD, a Cork City Councillor, recently issued a stern warning that the continued collapse of the Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) has left thousands of families without access to the most basic dental services.
Collins, who has long been committed to promoting fair medical services, pointed out that in the past year alone, 58 dentists have withdrawn from the DTSS program, including 8 from the West Cork area. This trend highlights the powerlessness of dental practitioners in the failure of the system. One dentist even described continuing to participate in the DTSS as “like banging your head against a wall.”
“This project is completely out of touch and no longer applies to current medical needs,” Collins said in parliament. “It is outdated, inefficient, and unable to attract dentists to stay, let alone serve patients.”
He criticized the system for over-emphasizing paperwork and ignoring the needs of patients themselves, while the government has avoided much-needed modernization reforms to the system for many years.
As a large number of dentists withdrew from the public medical system, children’s statutory dental examinations were also forced to be interrupted, and the basic services that should have been available to every primary school student have now become a luxury.
Collins specifically pointed out that in West Cork and other parts of the country, the waiting time for emergency dental treatment has exceeded two years. “They call this waiting ‘urgent care’? This is completely irresponsible. Our children are suffering from this.”
He called on the government to abandon delays and excuses and take real action: to thoroughly reform DTSS so that it can truly serve patients; to invest more resources in preventive dental care, not just fillings and extractions; and to ensure that all people, regardless of their economic status or region, have access to timely and continuous dental services.
“Letting children suffer on waiting lists means that we have no right to talk about medical equity at all.” Collins firmly stated, “Dental health is not a luxury, but a basic right that everyone should have.”
