A Tenerife dental surgery has said it is willing to give the names of 50 Irish people who booked but did not turn up for dental appointments to the gardaí.
Staff at the dental practice on the Canary Island suspect the bookings were made to get around Ireland’s travel restrictions.
As the Irish Examiner reports, they have prepared a file for gardaí should authorities here want them.
The appointments, made mostly for the past few days, were mostly by young couples living in Dublin. Almost all of them failed to attend.
A number were for non-urgent services including teeth whitening.
One person who wanted an appointment for later in the month at Clinica Dental Tenerife Sur rang complaining they had a “toothache”.
“Obviously, they weren't in that much pain if they were happy to wait two weeks to be seen," office manager Roberta Beccaris told the Irish Examiner.
Essential reasons
The clinic is located in the heart of the Fairway Village Golf del Sur, part of a 410-acre golfing and marina holiday resort and village in the south of the island, which has one of the lowest Covid-19 infection rates in Europe.
Under level 5, one of the few essential reasons for travelling from Ireland includes seeking “essential medical, health, or dental services”, or accompanying someone you live with who needs essential treatment.
The Government is to up fines for those caught travelling without a valid reason to €2,000.
There are currently four flights available from Ryanair direct from Dublin to Tenerife South Airport, costing around €145 return from two people.
From the beginning of next month, there will be twice-weekly flights. They cost around €67.36 for a couple, but seats are already starting to book up. The March 4 flight to Tenerife South is almost all booked out.
“There is no reason why anybody in Ireland needs to travel abroad for dental care," said Fintan Hourihan, CEO of the Irish Dental Association.
