Katherine Zappone (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her attendance and comments. I will begin my support for Senator Mary Ann O'Brien's motion by addressing the issue of semantics. According to the Government's amendment to our motion, water fluoridation is not medicinal. I looked up definitions of "medicine". A fairly standard one is "a drug or other preparation for the treatment or prevention of disease". The amendment goes on to argue that water fluoridation is an effective means of preventing disease, namely, tooth decay. As such, the first line of the amendment is intended to lead us down a detour while the Government contradicts itself in the amendment's second line, making the detour a dead end.

I will address the substance of our motion. Fluoride is the only chemical added to public water to treat the consumer of the water rather than the water itself. Therefore, fluoride is viewed by the Government as a form of medicine or a health treatment that prevents disease. Consequently, the fluoridation of public water must be held to the strict scrutiny and standards applied to other health treatments. Citizens must enjoy the same rights as regards water fluoridation as they do in respect of other aspects of health. Reducing human rights arguments to a "liberal emphasis on choice" is unacceptable.

In no other area of health care does the Government impose a blanket treatment on the entire population without the expressed and informed consent of those affected. Citizens must be given choice over their health treatment and be provided with a recourse to opt out if they wish to forgo said treatment. It is unethical to force an unwanted health treatment on an individual. The Government should not continue to impose water fluoridation requirements universally. If the national mandate continues, the Government must provide support to those who do not want to be treated. There are practical ways of doing so.