Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Nash. I agree with most of what Senator Gilroy said. One of the functions of the university constituencies is to bring the research of those universities to the House. The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch’s statement corresponds with the research. In the Patrick’s Well example, where fluoride was naturally present, the decayed, missing and filled teeth index was much lower than in the rest of County Limerick. That was not a plot by any chemical industry, as speakers have said; it was naturally present in the water. Fluoride is naturally present in a number of areas, such as Gyles Quay, which is in the Minister of State's constituency. It is also present in a number of places in the UK, where 330,000 people have water that is fluoridated naturally by the topography of their area. A study found North-South differences, including a dramatic difference between the dental health in Sligo and Derry, in favour of Sligo. There are differences in dental health over time since we started fluoridation many years ago. Last month, a paper was presented at the World Dental Conference in New Delhi confirming the positive aspects of fluoridation.

The evidence is overwhelmingly in favour of the benefits of fluoride. The benefits are particularly obvious in deciduous teeth. Those who want the choice to have non-fluoridated water would impose a particular cost on children, whose deciduous teeth will fall out much more. If they succeed, there will be a significant cost by way of dental fees to restore the resulting decayed, missing and filled teeth index. For €1 per year a person receives all the benefits stated in the literature. I commend the dental profession on being in favour of a public health measure which reduces the demand for the services of dentists. I would like other professions in the country to be as patriotic as dentists. Usually, when professions come here, they want more money for themselves. Dentists are a noble exception, saying this public health measure reduces the demand for their services. This is a commendable difference between dentists and other professions.

The expert body on fluorides and health continues to do research. When this began, 50 years ago, it dealt with the arguments about damaging effects of fluoride. The quantities of fluoride one would have to consume to experience the damaging effects were massively in excess of anything that is present in water. Fluoride is not a risk to health in the current quantities but has very positive general health impacts. What happens if we return to the previous situation of high levels of decayed, missing and filled teeth? It would have serious impacts on people’s general health to have a head full of decaying teeth, and it is not included in the calculations. Fluoridation of water has been a success in health terms and is supported in the literature in refereed journals, as the Minister of State said, and as the previous Minister of State, Deputy White, said here on the previous occasion it was debated. While I appreciate we must examine any instance where medical treatment damages people’s health, iatrogenic disease in general, the balance of the literature is that fluoridation is overwhelmingly positive and, therefore, I support the Government amendment.

This is a successful public health policy by any measure. As we said, one can compare Patrickswell to the rest of County Limerick at the past, one can compare Derry to Sligo in recent time, or one can compare the naturally fluoridated parts of the United Kingdom to the unfluoridated parts. The fact is that eminent dental conferences such as the one in New Delhi last month continuously present the evidence and fluoridation is overwhelmingly endorsed.

There are many other issues in the health service which deserve some of the attention that has been focused on the fluoridation of water. This issue has been well discussed, well debated, and the research continually shows it has been a worthwhile endeavour so let us go on to some of the other much more urgent problems in the health service.