Dentist′s make mint on public health work
New figures from Ireland have revealed that five dentists were paid more than €300,000 for free public dental work last year.
Medical card holders are allowed to access certain health services free of charge but it seems that some dentists are receiving disproportionate fees from the government for this work.
€59 million was paid out to 805 dentists last year. This shocking statistic came after recent complaints by dentists that they were not being paid enough for their work – resulting in 600 dentists leaving the medical card scheme.
In addition to this, Health Service Executive figures reported that 20 dentists banked more than €200,000 in gross payments and hundreds dentists cashed more than €100,000 – however some payments were less than €800
Dentists often boost their revenues with private fees, which were reported by the Irish Independent to be to be around 30pc higher than in Northern Ireland.
Now the Irish dental profession is coming in for tough criticism and leading many people to look North of the boarder, or even as far as Eastern Europe, for dental care.
Fintan Hourihan, Irish Dental Association chief exec, told the Irish Independent that the “€59m paid to dentists equated to approximately €60 per medical card holder”, adding: “It must be borne in mind that these figures represent the total costs paid under the medical card schemes for materials and services.”
The chief exec then explained that dentists have to pay working costs which include things like “staff, utility bills, equipment, insurances and other fees”.
Unlike GPs, who receive an annual fee per patient, no matter how many times a patient visits a surgery, dentists get paid for work that has been done.
Hourihan’s organisation disputes figures which suggest a 30pc jump in prices between the South and the North.
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