Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:06 pm on 7 February 2017.
Some 40 per cent of children still don't visit the dentist regularly. A third of children are starting school each year already showing signs of tooth decay, and it's the most common single reason why children aged five to nine require admissions to hospital. Given that this north Wales mobile dental unit stopped last September, and the health board is only reporting now their bid for funding to purchase a replacement vehicle and looking at redeployment of other mobile dentistry resources to provide support in the area, isn't it a little late, six months later, and should this not have been treated as a priority? And, if you agree with that, will your colleagues get on the phone to the health board and ensure that, with your partnership, this is treated as a priority?