HC Deb 21 January 1998 vol 304 c592W
Mr. Öpik

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what action he is planning to take in 1998 to assist those in rural areas of Wales who do not have access to an NHS dentist. [21977]

Mr. Win Griffiths

In July of last year I announced that I was making £2.5 million available to finance a package of proposals for developing primary care in Wales. This included £250,000 to extend the Welsh Office dental initiative to attract new dentists into Wales. The package also contained £500,000 to finance an Equity Fund which can be used to tackle any deficiencies in NHS dental provision which cannot be addressed by the dental initiative.