Labour calls for resolution to dental row

The Labour Party has urged Mary Coughlan, the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, to meet with the Irish Dentists Association immediately to seek a resolution to their dispute.

From today, around 1.5 million PRSI workers are without dental cover because the Government will no longer accept claims from around 90% of dentists.

The Government took the measure because the dentists increased their rates.

Labour’s Breeda Moynihan-Cronin said: "This is brewing for a long, long time and what I would ask the new Minister for Social Welfare is not to go down the same road as her predecessor.

"If the previous minister had dealt with this and sat down with the Dentists Association, this would not have come to a head."