Irish Dental Association (IDA) members working within the HSE dental service will on Wednesday take part in the national public service strike, in order to highlight longstanding deficits in the resourcing, structures and funding of public dental care as well as concerns about the lack of a pay agreement.

This action, which will not impact private dental practices, is also being undertaken to highlight a historic pattern of the HSE insisting on unworkable reforms which have served to sideline dentistry and reduce access to care for children and others during previous restructuring processes within the HSE.

The number of dentists practicing within the HSE has fallen by over 23% in the past 15 years, despite an equivalent number in the number of eligible patients and by contrast with large (30-40%) increases in the level of consultants, junior doctors, nurses, administrators and other allied health professionals recruited during the same period.

IDA President, Dr Bridget Harrington Barry, said:

 “Irish Dental Association members working within the HSE have voted overwhelmingly this month in favour of undertaking industrial action, a historic first for the Association. We believe that poor pay and conditions within the public dental service demand immediate attention.

“While we welcome recent funding commitments for public dentistry in Budget 2027, secured by the Minister for Health, there is widespread concern among our members that planned HSE restructuring will bypass the profession. This has been the case in the two most recent HSE restructuring processes.

“For too long, the state has failed to prioritise public service dentistry and imposed working structures which do not adequately serve patient needs. This has been to the detriment of tens of thousands of children, people with additional needs and the most vulnerable in our society.

“Industrial action is a last resort for our members practicing within the public setting. They and their patients have been repeatedly failed for almost 20 years. We sincerely hope that we can engage constructively with the HSE in order to resolve the crisis in dentistry and build a system which represents the best interests of both patients and dentists.”