A letter is on its way from Cavan County Council to Stephen Donnelly, to ask the Minister for Health why there is no longer a dentist service in national schools.
Independent Councillor and Belturbet father, Brendan Fay, said he requested the council press the minister on behalf of the many Cavan children who leave national school without "ever seeing a dentist". He told Northern Sound visiting school dentists used to not only check on young children's dental health but also provide vital education and enable prevention, saving the Government money in the long run.
He also called on the re-intrduction of school dentist visits because when parents privately bring older children to the dentist in say, their teens, it normally sets families backo a lot of money, and this could be easily prevented. "Myself, personally, I've got an 11-year-old in fifth class and an eight-year-old who've never seen a dentist," Councillor Fay told Northern Sound, "Quite a few teachers and parents have called about this quite concerned because this is going to cause concerns in the future and I'm asking the council to write to Stephen Donnelly to ask why this has totally collapsed, what is wrong and I know the excuse will be funding and money but, once again we're not taking care of the children of the future."
