Embattled Irish senate fails citizen
Embattled Irish senate fails citizens opposed to tap water fluoridation.
By admin on January 30, 2013
A private members motion calling on the government to review the 50 year old policy of water fluoridation was cynically amended by a majority of coalition-member senators intent only on protecting the government. While many senators protested their support for Senator Norris’s motion, they then fell in line with the coalition agenda, thus missing a rare opportunity to bring the real concerns of their many voters to proper democratic debate and scrutiny. If this was the best the upper house can do to hold executive power to account, then the Seanad’s likely demise will not be lamented by the many thousands of citizens who are concerned about the continued fluoridation of their tap water. Even the Irish food industry is taking its duty of care to Irish consumers more seriously and with appropriate response than this ‘upper house’ of a self-serving parliament.
While several senators said they had received voluminous representations against fluoridation, they themselves demonstrated that they had failed to actually investigate these concerns. Many of those supporting government policy spoke of ‘fluoridization’, Senator John Gilroy even spoke of spotty teeth (dental fluorosis) as “dental fluoridization er – dental fluoridosis”, so superficial was his grasp of this serious condition affecting every third fluoridated teenager here . Residents of Dublin would have been under-whelmed by Senator Cait Keane’s admission that she was just as confused about fluoridation as 15 years ago when she put down a futile motion against fluoridation in South Dublin County Council; futile for the simple reason that the right of councilors to protect their electorate was taken away in 1963 by the national parliament of which she is now a member!................
By admin on January 30, 2013
A private members motion calling on the government to review the 50 year old policy of water fluoridation was cynically amended by a majority of coalition-member senators intent only on protecting the government. While many senators protested their support for Senator Norris’s motion, they then fell in line with the coalition agenda, thus missing a rare opportunity to bring the real concerns of their many voters to proper democratic debate and scrutiny. If this was the best the upper house can do to hold executive power to account, then the Seanad’s likely demise will not be lamented by the many thousands of citizens who are concerned about the continued fluoridation of their tap water. Even the Irish food industry is taking its duty of care to Irish consumers more seriously and with appropriate response than this ‘upper house’ of a self-serving parliament.
While several senators said they had received voluminous representations against fluoridation, they themselves demonstrated that they had failed to actually investigate these concerns. Many of those supporting government policy spoke of ‘fluoridization’, Senator John Gilroy even spoke of spotty teeth (dental fluorosis) as “dental fluoridization er – dental fluoridosis”, so superficial was his grasp of this serious condition affecting every third fluoridated teenager here . Residents of Dublin would have been under-whelmed by Senator Cait Keane’s admission that she was just as confused about fluoridation as 15 years ago when she put down a futile motion against fluoridation in South Dublin County Council; futile for the simple reason that the right of councilors to protect their electorate was taken away in 1963 by the national parliament of which she is now a member!................
posted by Bill at
12:36 PM
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