The ongoing dispute between dentists and the Government, which has left 1.5 million people who pay PRSI contributions without dental benefits, has become a "money-making racket" for the Government and dentists, it was claimed yesterday.
The claim came from the Fine Gael spokesperson on social and family affairs, Mr Michael Ring TD, who said the Government was saving money as a result of the dispute.
Mr Ring also said dentists were gaining from the dispute as people were having to pay privately for their treatment.
Mr Ring called for the introduction of a special scheme to compensate people who had to pay for private dental treatment, using the funding which would have been paid to dentists under this scheme.
PRSI contributors, he said, were "piggies in the middle" of the long-running dispute.
Criticising the Government's handling of the dispute with the Irish Dental Association, Mr Ring said: "The real winners in this dispute are the dentists and the Government.
"The real losers are the people paying PRSI for a dental treatment benefit service which they cannot avail of.
"It is scandalous that this matter has been allowed to run for so long without resolution and without any signs of a resolution in the near future.
"We are no nearer a resolution today than we were months ago," Mr Ring said.