Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Although I welcome the fact that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, has commissioned a report on fluoride, I wish he would not waste our money on that report because I am not paying water charges if I am going to be medicated without my permission. We are all being mass medicated and the Irish citizen has not been educated about this. From a cost perspective, 1.6 million litres of water per day must be fluoridated, and we all know how much is wasted because we need to improve our water system. A 2003 report conducted in the last town in Switzerland to fluoridate its water, Basel, found only 0.1% of the water was being drunk by humans, with the rest going into the environment. Even in small amounts fluoride is very damaging to water systems.

Coming back to the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the last speaker, we should think of our agriculture, food business, export success, the end of milk quotas and our grass-fed beef. Then we should think of 1.6 million litres soaking into our rivers and environment and being sprayed on our plants. A proper study has never been done on the effect of fluoride on our environment. It is time to stop this and save the money spent on the expert fluoridation group. What does the rest of Europe know that the Irish expert group on fluoridation does not know? This must stop.