Dan Neville (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Question 194: To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide any assurance in respect of the safety of fluoridated water for human consumption or its environmental impacts; and if he accepts this has a bearing for local authorities and whether the local authorities should be asked to cease the fluoridation of drinking water until such information is provided by his Department and the Department of the Environment; Community and Local Government in accordance with EU law. [16018/12]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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I have received a copy of the recent Report to which the Deputy refers and I have asked the Irish Expert Body on Fluorides and Health to examine it.

The Forum on Fluoridation, which reported in 2002, advised that the fluoridation of piped public water supplies should continue as a public health measure. One of the recommendations of the Forum was to amend the Regulations regarding fluoridation of public water supplies to redefine the optimal level of fluoride in drinking water from 0.8 to 1.0 parts per million (ppm) to between 0.6 and 0.8 ppm. Regulations were introduced in 2007 to give legal effect to this change.

The Irish Expert Body on Fluorides and Health advises that the balance of scientific evidence worldwide confirms that water fluoridation, at the optimal level, does not cause any ill effects and continues to be safe and effective in protecting the oral health of all age groups. The report of the EU Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER), published in June 2011, has not made any findings of negative health or environmental effects concerning fluoridation of water. There are no plans to discontinue the policy of fluoridation of public water supplies, which continues to make an effective contribution to oral health in Ireland.