Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We all hear that concern expressed by our constituents. It is not always expressed by very organised or vocal groups. One hears it from people in the course of routine conversations. I am of the view that one of the things that is going to change matters quite dramatically is that fact that people are going to be asked to pay to have something in their water which many of them are of the view they should be able to choose not to have in it. I hope that a very generous free allowance will be allocated to people in order that they will not be obliged to pay for water. However, the point I make is worth considering.

It is interesting that the current Government and that which preceded it have excluded many people from having dental repairs carried out under the PRSI scheme. It was the previous Administration which removed the entitlement in this regard. In most cases, people were previously entitled to annual dental check-ups. Following a check-up now, having dental repairs carried out, teeth removed or whatever very much depends on whether one has the money to pay for the procedure. When we discuss dental health, therefore, we must examine matters in their totality and consider Government policy from the point of view of achieving the optimum outcome in the context of maintaining people's dental health.

Fluoridation of water supplies first came about in the 1950s. If one looks at photographs or television footage from the 1950s and 1960s, one will nearly always see people who have gaps in their teeth. It is funny when one looks back. Quite rightly, there was an amount of concern about this at the time. A number of issues arose during that period in the context of people's general health and the quantity and quality of healthy food that were available. There is no doubt that the advent of the Second World War would have limited the range and types of food to which people would have had access. I understand the concerns which informed what was done in the 1950s and 1960s. However, fluoridation was never universally supported and, as we know, there have been various legal challenges to it in the interim. People are now much more careful about what they put in their bodies and they want to have control in that regard. They know they can buy toothpastes which contain fluoride and that they do not need to ingest it in order to limit the number of dental cavities with which they might end up.

Let us consider the experience in other countries. As previous speakers noted, parts of Finland have reported no worsening of dental caries after fluoridation was stopped in 1992. In British Columbia, dental caries rates actually decreased when fluoridation ended. The latter may have been because people may have been obliged to make a conscious effort to use fluoride toothpaste. Germany, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Austria and Belgium do not currently artificially fluoridate water supplies. Sweden engaged in a particularly vigorous debate on this issue in the 1960s and 1970s and eventually decided against fluoridation. The notion that fluoridation leads to universal benefits does not appear to hold weight in other countries. None of the countries to which I refer reported any serious dental health issues among members of the general public in the absence of fluoridation and all have levels of dental care and practice which are comparable to those which obtain in Ireland.

During my time in politics, both at local and national level, experts have often said to me that a particular way of doing things was the right way. On a good few occasions I did not really believe them and in many instances I was correct. It is right that we should be sceptical and that we should question the opinions of experts. The general public is not always wrong and its concerns should not just be dismissed. The Minister of State referred to expert after expert during his contribution. Many people want to be given the choice as to whether they should accept the advice of experts who want their water to be free of fluoride. These individuals would be happy to change their habits in order to ensure that they take fluoride orally and are not obliged to ingest it. Most people are of the view that being obliged to ingest fluoride via drinking water is an imposition.

The Government should allow the Bill to proceed to Committee Stage to give Deputies an opportunity to debate the legislation further, to question experts in the field and, at a minimum, satisfy themselves as to the robustness of expert opinion. I wonder if it is worthwhile holding Friday sittings when so few of the Bills introduced in these sittings have proceeded to Committee or Remaining Stages.

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