To ask the Minister of Health for his assessment of the impact that the £2.1 million reduction in expenditure in health service dentistry, cited as a part of savings and cost containment measures will have for NHS dentistry services.

The number of registered dental patients in Northern Ireland continues to reduce and as reported in the Quarterly Family Practitioner Services (FPS) General Dental Statistics for Northern Ireland QE December 2025, published on 29 January 2026, registrations have decreased by a further 17.1% in the last year.

This reduction has led to a reduction in the costs of registration fees paid to Dentists and in turn a reduction in the cost of treatments paid during the 2025/26 financial year and the realisation of savings of £2.1m.