PEOPLE earning over £35,000 a year will again enjoy the same dental and optical benefits as those on lower salaries, the Department of Social Welfare confirmed last night.
The move, effective from April 6th, is revealed in a clause in an appendix to the Budget. It means that some dental and optical treatment is free, while other basic procedures carry a nominal charge. Civil servants, who pay PRSI at a reduced rate, are not affected.
The Government decision ends the bizarre rule under which an employee earning more than £35,000 must pay for all dental and optical treatment, while his or her dependent spouse received benefit.
The nominal dental charges for each filling or extraction will remain, the Department said, and many routine treatments, such as root canals and crowns, will remain costly.
Equally, while the eyesight test and a very basic pair of spectacles' will be free, PRSI contributors will still have to pay most of the cost of the more popular frames and contact lenses.
From April, dependent spouses who go back to work will remain covered until their own PRSI contributions take effect, up to five years later. Department sources said this move was to assist married women to return to the workforce.
Children are not covered under the scheme, no matter how much PRSI their parents have paid.
