“We need the Government to intervene in the medical card scheme, public dentist recruitment and the training of dental graduates immediately before we reach crisis levels.” – Dr Caroline Robins

Last week’s increase in fees and expansion of treatments under the DTSS (medical card scheme) will do little to address the fundamental issues that have forced dentists to withdraw from the scheme en masse, says Dr Will Rymer, chair of the Association’s General Practitioner Committee.

Independently commissioned research paper by Professor of Health Economics at Queens University Belfast, Professor Ciaran O’Neill, says a ‘credit or voucher’ scheme would “remove perversities in the current system and help rebuild relations between the public, providers, and Government.”