A Kerry county councillor wants a 20% increase in dental school places for EU citizens.
Sinn Féin’s Paul Daly has called for an increase in these state-funded university places to tackle a shortage of dentists in the country.
The Irish Dental Association claims Ireland needs 500 additional dentists immediately to address the current crises in private practice and the public system.
Cllr Daly says it's very difficult to get dental appointments, and that the School Dental Screening Programme in not being implemented fully.
He claims that one cause of the dentist shortage is that universities rely heavily for their funding on non-EU students, who pay large sums of money for their places.
Cllr Daly alledged that many of these students leave Ireland immediately after qualifying.
