John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 175: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if her Department has referred an article published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (details supplied) to the Irish expert body on fluorides; if the Irish expert body of fluorides has received this article; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3096/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Department of Health and Children referred the article referred to by the Deputy to the Irish expert body on fluorides and health in November last. The Irish expert body on fluorides and health was established to oversee the implementation of the recommendations of the forum on fluoridation and to advise the Minister for Health and Children on new and emerging issues including any new research.

The expert body has advised the Department that the article in question was tabled at the expert body's plenary meeting on 30 November 2005.

From its inception, the expert body applies the fundamental scientific tenet that any single piece of scientific evidence by itself remains hypothetical unless it can be repeated or confirmed by other scientists. Therefore, any such evidence must be submitted to examination by other scientists, usually by publication in recognised scientific journals after the submission has been approved by independent referees. This procedure reflects a global scientific standard, adopted across all scientific disciplines. The peer review process provides both a rigorous evaluation on the procedures used in research and the conclusions drawn, as well as ensuring reproducibility of results. All decisions taken by the expert body are thus informed by the best available and most reliable scientific evidence. This approach is consistent with the methods used by the forum on fluoridation, 2002.

The United States National Library of Medicine provides the international gold standard for all scientific publications. For inclusion in this database, which currently contains more than 10 million articles, a journal must adhere to the standard scientific principle of independent peer-review. The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons is not included in this database.

The expert body has advised the Department that the article referred to by the Deputy does not fulfil the criteria for review as set out in the foregoing paragraphs.