LABOUR PARTY
A1. Labour will respond to concerns around dental health by introducing a tax on sugar sweetened drinks within the first year of being returned to Government. This will be levied on a volumetric basis and can be expected to have a significant public health impact, particularly for children. In addition we will ring fence the proceeds from the tax for investment in a number of health awareness programmes for children, including dental care.
We will also further restrict food advertising, in particular the marketing of foods high in salt, sugar and fat. We will introduce national regulations for front-of-pack traffic light labelling on all food and drink products. In this way we can empower people, especially parents to clearly determine the contents of the food they buy and its potential effects on individual health.
A2. A new National Oral Health Policy is being developed by the Department of Health. This project has three key parts. The first is a needs assessment, which will inform how new services should be provided. The second part will be a review of resources. Thirdly, it involves on-going and widespread consultation on new ways of delivering oral health services. The project commenced in 2014 and is due to be completed in 2017.
A3. The Labour Party has launched its policy on progressing towards a new National Community Health Service (available on Over time, this service will be extended to a more comprehensive list of treatments.
We will increase the funding for the publicly run dental service and recruit additional dentists and dental nurses to ensure all children go through screening in a timely manner.
We will increase support to recruit dentists and dental nurses by €13.2 million over the lifetime of the next Government.
A new National Community Health Service will provide timely and free access to primary care services for all children and adults along with reduced cost of medication.
Over the lifetime of the next Government, free GP care will be phased in for the entire population, starting with those under the age of 18 and those aged 65 and over and progressing to universal access by 2021.
To prioritise this transformation of primary care across Ireland, we will appoint a Cabinet Minister with specific responsibility for primary care, include dental services. This will bring a new focus, budget and accountability to the development of the Primary Care network.
A4. Good oral health is vital for people of all ages. As with access to GPs, we want to ensure that no-one is put off accessing a dentist for reasons of cost.
We will begin to widen access by restoring the Dental Treatment Benefit scheme to pre-2009 levels.
Our plan is to see that all persons are eligible for two free oral examinations, scale plus polish per year. This will also include access to basic preventative treatments such as cleaning and fillings.
A5. Through our proposal to progress to a new National Community Health Service, we will seek to increase the funding for the publicly run dental service and recruit additional dentists and dental nurses to ensure all children go through screening in a timely manner.
A6. We believe that a new full cabinet minister with responsibility for primary care will be an important step in progressing more funding for a new Community Health Service, including dental care.
In the past, the development of primary care has played second fiddle to the challenges of the acute hospital system.
We are determined that this will change and we believe that having a dedicated cabinet Minister will be an important next step in making that change.