Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health David Cullinane TD has called on the Government to work with the Dental Council and the Health Information and Quality Authority to tackle unregistered dentistry.
The TD for Waterford said that unregistered practice is a criminal offence, yet clearly the regulatory bodies are not empowered to tackle fraud and unregistered practice in the sector.
Teacha Cullinane was reacting to RTÉ Investigates’ findings and testimony from the Dental Council that there are “significant legislative [weaknesses] in terms of the protection of the public.”
Under the Dentists Act 1985 only registered healthcare professionals are regulated. You do not have to be a dentist to own a dental practice, meaning it is not possible to sanction an unregistered person operating a dental practice unless they individually explicitly purport to be a dentist. There are no restrictions on who can open or operate a dental clinic here and there is no code of practice governing the operation of dental practices, nor is there a register of dental practices.
Source: Dental Council must be empowered to tackle fraud and unregistered practice / SinnFein