§ 25. Mr. Beswickasked the Minister of Health, as representing the Lord President of the Council, the estimated 76W amount of money allocated to dental research in the United Kingdom; and if he is satisfied that this is adequate to enable the necessary research to be maintained and to enable salaries to be paid which will attract and keep research workers of the necessary standard.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithThe total amount spent last year on dental research in the United Kingdom is estimated to be at least £54,000. My noble Friend is not at present satisfied with the scale of dental research in this country. The chief difficulty in encouraging research in this field is not lack of funds but lack of interest and enthusiasm on the part of both dental and scientific graduates. The salaries paid are equivalent to those of other academic medical research workers. Every effort is made by the Medical Research Council to encourage dental graduates to take training in research methods in scientific subjects and to enable scientific graduates to enter dental research.