Dr. Gerry Cleary:

The very sad thing is that Ireland had an enviable reputation for prevention. Water fluoridation in the 1960s cut dental decay by 50% almost overnight. Regarding the child scheme that my colleagues have been talking about all morning, to see a child at each of the stages where they were to be seen was so significant in terms of prevention of dental disease that it is a shame the system has collapsed. The smoking ban also saw significant improvements in oral health. We had a reputation for preventing dental disease at a very high level for a very long time. It is a terrible shame that some of those aspects have essentially slipped away to almost nothing. Fortunately, water fluoridation is still there. If it was not, I would hate to think of the situation. We have heard some horror stories. In the absence of water fluoridation, we would be in a much more serious situation.

I am glad the committee members are shocked by some of the things they have heard from both the Irish Dental Association and the Irish Dental Council this morning. We very much welcome the opportunity we have had to present some of this information to the committee. Fortunately, on the regulatory side, we feel some meaningful progress can be made in terms of the items that the registrar has outlined, the establishment of the oral health unit and the relationship that has been ongoing there over the past six months. Anything the committee can do to support that or provide intervention for either the association or the council with the Department of Health and the Minister would be extremely welcome. Again, we thank the committee members for the opportunity they have afforded us this morning to outline some of the difficulties that both the association and the Dental Council have been experiencing over the last while.