Stephen welcomes government dental u-turn

12.00.00am GMT Wed 20th Feb 2008

Nicol Stephen, MSP for Aberdeen South, has lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament welcoming the Government's u-turn over funding for new students at the Aberdeen Dental School, but calling for the outstanding issues with the new facility to be resolved.

Following Mr Stephen raising his concerns at First Minister's Questions in Holyrood about the £7,100 of tuition fees which potential students at the Aberdeen Dental Institute faced the Government now plan to waive the tuition fees for students studying dentistry in Aberdeen.

Mr Stephen has also asked the Government to confirm if the waiving of fees will be linked in any way to the newly graduated dentists working for the NHS after they graduate.

Commenting, Mr Stephen said:

"If the Government do waive the tuition fees of dental students studying in Aberdeen then this will be a welcome u-turn that could help to alleviate the chronic shortage of dentists in the North East. Ministers had completely failed to address this problem until I raised it at First Minister's Questions in Holyrood.

"Ensuring that dental students studying in Aberdeen are not financially penalised compared to their counterparts in Glasgow or Dundee is a victory for those, including the Liberal Democrats, the Evening Express and many community groups, who have campaigned long and hard for an Aberdeen Dental School.

"However, it is still unclear if the Government plan to tie this new money to any commitment to work for the NHS in Grampian after the dental students graduate. The minister must make her position on this clear.

"There are still many outstanding issues such as lectures being delivered by video from Dundee, student accommodation and the comparatively low number of students being enrolled each year. I have today lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament calling for the remaining outstanding issues to be resolved. I will continue my campaign until Aberdeen has a full dental school up and running."