The Dental Council warmly welcomes the Minister for Health’s commitment to legislate to put ongoing dental competence on a statutory footing early in 2026.
This is the first dentistry-related change to the Dentists Act since it came into force forty years ago. The Dental Council has been calling for this change and it brings dentistry in line with the other regulated healthcare professions in Ireland and with dentistry worldwide. This is the first of hopefully a number of other amendments to the Act before a completely revised Act is brought forward.
The Dental Council welcomes and endorses the Minister’s view where she says ‘this reform is vital for patient safety, professional excellence, and public trust.’
The Dental Council looks forward to working with professional bodies and training providers to develop a scheme to provide for ongoing competence.
The Dental Council’s vision is that the scheme must apply equally to all dentists. It should also allow dentists to consider their development requirements based on the nature and complexity of dentistry they currently practice, their previous training, their vision for how they wish to develop their professional practice, and crucially, their patients’ safety and needs.
