DENTISTS WORKING IN the HSE have backed industrial action for the first time in the history of the Irish Dental Association (IDA), with members set to join a health service work stoppage later this month.

The IDA said it has this week served notice of industrial action on the HSE after 98% of members balloted backed taking action in response to planned restructuring of public dental services.

The association said members had authorised it to take “all necessary actions” to resist and reverse any unilateral changes to the structure, governance or reporting relationships within the HSE dental service.

It said it remains willing to reach agreement with the HSE on restructuring, but members have given negotiators a mandate to organise protests if changes are introduced which they believe would further sideline dentistry within the health service.

Separately, 95% of IDA members balloted backed supporting the ongoing public service pay dispute.

HSE dentists will take part in the planned health service work stoppage on Wednesday, 14 October, alongside other public health service workers.

The action will coincide with a wider day of industrial action across the health service amid a dispute over negotiations for a new public service pay agreement.

More than 11,000 trade union Siptu members across 30 hospitals are due to strike for the day, while members of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) have also voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action, up to and including strike action.

The previous public service pay agreement expired on 30 June, with unions seeking negotiations with the government on a successor deal.

IDA chief executive Fintan Hourihan said the two votes represented a “significant moment” for the profession.

“It reflects a deep frustration with the ongoing challenges facing the public dental service, and especially given lessons learned from previous restructuring of the HSE in 2004 and 2011,” Hourihan said.

Hourihan claimed those changes had left public dentistry “more isolated, starved of resources and increasingly understaffed”.

The IDA has repeatedly raised concerns about staffing levels in the public dental service and said more than 100,000 primary school children missed dental screening appointments last year because of staff shortages.

Hourihan said the vote on the pay dispute reflected a determination among dentists to secure pay increases which protect them against increases in the cost of living.

He added that participation in the 14 October action would become “even more significant” if dentists subsequently take further action over the planned restructuring of HSE dental services.