Laois people advised to leave Laois for dental treatment

A Ministerial response to dentist shortages is "pathetic" according to a Laois representative who also insists that proposals that Laois people should leave the county for care is a "desperate attempt to avoid the issue". 

Laois Sinn Féin Senator Maria McCormack responded to a recent reply from the Minister for Health confirming that one dentist in Laois still accepts new patients under the Dental Treatment Services Scheme for medical card holders.

The Minister’s response also said: “Adult medical card holders who wish to attend a registered DTSS dentist are not limited to their local area, they are entitled to attend any registered DTSS dentist across the country.”

In a statment issued to the Leinster Express / Laois Live The Portlaoise-based senator was incensed.

“It is unbelievable that Co Laois, with a population of just under 92,000 people, has only one dentist available to take on new medical card patients.

“And the Minister’s response, that people can go to another county for treatment, is pathetic and a desperate attempt to avoid the issue. The shortage of dentists, particularly for medical card holders, is a problem up and down the country. Giving false hope of options in other counties is frustrating because the shortage of dentists exists in every county.

“It is also unacceptable to expect that people with medical cards would have transport to get to and from other counties for dental treatment, and just shows how out of touch the Minister is with ordinary people’s lives.

“Access to dental services is fundamental to a person's overall health, yet the failure to address the recruitment and retention of dentists for years, has left the system in total chaos, for both public and private dental services.

“It’s not just adults with medical cards who are left behind. Over 200,000 children were eligible for school dental screenings last year but only half were actually seen. The other half, amounting to more than 100,000, just didn’t get any dental screening at all.

“The collapse in dental services is hitting families hard, especially when the only choice left is to pay privately, a choice not every family or individual can afford," she said.

Sen McCormack accused Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil of stood over so many crises in the health system. MORE BELOW PHOTO.

"It seems dental care was pretty much forgotten about – and it continues to be ignored – as we see in budget 2026, there has been no mention of specific funding for dental services from the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeil," she said.

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Sen McCormack said Sinn Féin have proposed 150 public dental teams to target school screening for children and medical card holders in its alternative budget, this is what we would do if in government.

“The people of Laois deserve better services and a better response from the Minister," she concluded.