Budget cuts causing chaos in Ireland

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Cuts in the public dental scheme are causing widespread chaos in Ireland.

Since the announcement was made in April, there has been constant battling and mud-slinging between dentists, dental associations, patients and the Health Service Executive. The cutbacks changed the dental care system completely, with holders of the medical card losing access to free dental care despite paying the same amount of money to the state.

When the plans to cut the budget for public dentistry were announced, the Irish Dental Association condemned the HSE, saying that the move would leave Ireland trailing behind other countries and standards of oral health amongst citizens would undoubtedly fall.

Many dentists condemned the move, saying that they couldn’t possibly do their job to the best of their ability under the new plans and criticising the HSE for bringing confusion and chaos to the system. Two dentists were so infuriated by the cuts that they took the HSE to court and have since had an injunction against the HSE upheld by the Supreme Court.

Since the plans were announced, patient’s horror stories have filled Irish newspapers and television news programmes, with many patients being forced to pay huge sums for dental care which they would previously have been provided with free of charge. Most patients are also confused by the new measures and are struggling to gauge what kind of treatment they are actually entitled to. As a result of rising costs, many patients are also being forced to forgo dental appointments because they can’t afford them, a trend which will undoubtedly lead to long-term dental health problems in the future.

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