Minutes of proceedings of the Inaugural Meeting of the Irish Expert Body on Fluorides and Health held in Buswells Hotel, Dublin 2, on Thursday 29th April 2004 at 10.30am

Present

Dr Seamus O’Hickey, Dr Gerard Gavin, Professor Denis O’Mullane, Dr Joe Mullen, Mr Stephen McDermott, Professor John Clarkson, Mr David Moloney, Mr Denis Lyons, Mr Enda Falvey, Councillor Jack Bourke, Dr Brian O’Herlihy, Ms Martina Queally, Mr Darragh Page, Mr Ray Parle, Ms Ursula O’Dwyer, Ms Biddy O’Neill, Mr Rowland Reece, Dr Wayne Anderson, Dr Paul Beirne, Ms Dorothy Gallagher, Mr Matt Twomey. 

In Attendance  
Ms. Deirdre Sadlier, Ms. Breeda Maher, Ms. Patricia Gilsenan

Apologies 
The following sent apologies for inability to attend:
Professor William Binchy and Mr Oliver Fogarty.

Outstanding Memberships 
Representation from Paediatrics and Toxicology has yet to be nominated.
The Secretariat has been informed that the Director of Consumer Affairs "does not wish to nominate a member on this occasion".  

1.  Opening of the Meeting
 
The Chair opened proceedings by welcoming all those present to the Inaugural meeting of the Irish Expert Body on Fluorides and Health, as established by the Minister for Health and Children, Mr. Micheal Martin, T.D.   
He thanked those members present for accepting their nominations to membership of the Expert Body and looked forward to their participation in its work. 
He extended apologies on behalf of the Minister who was not available to attend this first meeting. The Minister wished the membership of the Expert Body well in their task of fulfilling its Terms of Reference. 

The Chair extended apologies for the unavoidable clash of date with the Annual Scientific Conference of the Irish Dental Association, which was scheduled to start today. He appreciated that some members of the Expert Body were under pressure of time to travel to attend the Scientific Conference and he hoped to facilitate them in this regard. 

2.  Introduction of Members

For this item, each member of the Expert Body introduced her/himself to the rest of the members.
It is important to recognize and appreciate the depth and diversity of expertise required and contained within our membership in relation to this rather specialized area of  'Fluorides and Health'.

3.  Programme for this Inaugural Meeting

The programme/timetable for today's activities, including the Meeting proper and its Agenda was circulated and agreed. 

The members accepted the Agenda, which had been circulated for the Meeting, by consensus.

As requested, Ms Breeda Maher explained how the work of the Expert Body was subject to the Freedom of Information Act, 1997.  A set of guidelines was being compiled for the members. Issues to be addressed in the proposed guidelines include effective record management practice, the availability of information to enable members of the public to obtain access to information to the greatest extent possible consistent with the public interest and the right to privacy.  

Ms Maher advised the membership that all meetings would be taped to ensure accuracy in note-taking/recording. In this regard, the membership was advised that the tapes produced from the recording of meetings would be erased once the Minutes of each meeting were adopted by the membership.

The members were briefed on the Report of the Forum on Fluoridation, 2002, dealing in particular with the 3 questions asked of the Forum, the conclusions drawn and the recommendations presented.  These are outlined in the supporting documentation for the members in the ‘Power Point Presentation Handout’.

For clarification, the Chair pointed out that the Recommendations of the Report of the Forum on Fluoridation, 2002 had been accepted by the Minister for Health and Children and were therefore, part of government policy.   The subsequent establishment of the Expert Body by the Minister was in direct response to the Forum Recommendations.  The remit of the Expert Body is to implement the Recommendations of the Forum Report, 2002 and not to revisit the debate surrounding the fluoridation of public water supplies.

4.  Introduction to papers / publications

Members were presented with the full Report of the Forum on Fluoridation, 2002, the Executive Summary of this Report and with the Executive Summary of the Report of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland on Infant Formula Reconstituted with Fluoridated Tap Water, 2002 (see Appendix 18 of Report of the Forum on Fluoridation, 2002).     

5  Terms of Reference and remit of this Expert Body

The Terms of Reference, as they arose originally from the Forum Report (see Recommendation 1, page 15), were presented and accepted by the membership.   Professor O’ Mullane referred to the importance of the role of research in these Terms of Reference.  Professor Clarkson asked that copies of the Terms of Reference 
be included with the Minutes of this Meeting and other papers to be issued to the members for the next meeting.

6  Working Structure, Method and Programme for the Expert Body

In presenting this item, the Dental Health Foundation, Ireland was profiled and its role described.  The Secretariat for the Expert Body will be provided by the Dental Health Foundation, which is an independent charitable trust that has been very much to the fore in securing co-operation between private and public dentistry and the oral health care industry in regard to joint oral health promotion initiatives.  
The ready availability of the support of the Dental Health Foundation has enabled the early establishment of the Expert Body, in advance of the establishment of the Health and Information Quality Authority (reference - Minister for Health and Children, speaking in Dail Eireann on 7th April, 2004).

The Annual Report of the Dental Health Foundation for 2003 was tabled for the members' information.  Satisfaction was expressed for the acceptance by the Dental Health Foundation, Ireland of its role as Secretariat to the Expert Body. Appreciation was also expressed for the amount and intensity of the work done by the Secretariat during the few weeks preceding the Inaugural Meeting and in preparation for it. 

The Governance Framework for the Expert Body addresses such issues as the decision making process; role of the Chair; meetings; staffing and premises; procedure; audit and accountability; Freedom of Information. 

The role of a website for the Expert Body was explained and a proposed website address, i.e., www.fluoridesandhealth.ie was presented.  This issue will be identified in the proposed draft Action Plan.

The members were advised by Ms Deirdre Sadlier of the work currently ongoing to prepare a draft Action Plan for consideration by the Expert Body.  An outline of the draft was presented and the priority areas identified, with examples of strategic objectives and actions. These are as outlined in the supporting documentation for the   members in the ‘Power Point Presentation Handout’.
The extent of the work to be undertaken by the Expert Body involves 33 separate recommendations contained within the body of the Report of the Forum on Fluoridation, 2002.

In order to facilitate the work of the Expert Body, a short presentation could be made on the working methods used in the Forum on Fluoridation.  Dr Joe Mullen offered to lead on this action.  Proposed by Dr Gavin and seconded by Dr O’Herlihy and agreed.

Professor O'Mullane informed the meeting that he would arrange for the distribution of the ‘Flint Report’ to the membership of the Expert Body prior to the next meeting.

7.  Appointment of Sub-committees

Points raised in discussion of this item included:

•	Establish a sub-committee to deal with each of the 8 Recommendations of the Forum Report
•	Group the Recommendations and form sub-committees to deal with each grouping form 4 sub-committees with 6 members each
•	Sub-committees could be formed around each of the 3 Terms of Reference each 
	sub-committee will appoint a Convenor and Rapporteur who will report to plenary
	meetings 
•	An appropriate mix of expertise will be needed on each sub-committee
•	Structures will be needed to plan for long-term actions
•	Structures will be needed to provide early responses to unforeseen events 
•	Structures used in the Forum on Fluoridation might serve as templates

It was agreed that proposals on sub-committee structures and procedures would be prepared for consideration by the membership at the next plenary meeting.  The proposed guidelines on the requirements under Freedom of Information, shall apply equally to the work of the sub-committees and all members shall receive detailed information, as part of the meeting documentation, on this issue. 

8.  Scheduling of Meetings

Following a detailed discussion a schedule of plenary meetings was agreed as follows:

•	23rd June 2004
•	29th September 2004
•	24th November 2004

For 2005, 23rd February was selected, subject to agreement at the plenary meeting scheduled for 23rd June 2004.

All plenary meetings shall commence at 11am to be followed by lunch. Venue/s will usually be in a Dublin city centre location.

9.  A Vice-Chair and an Executive

The creation of a position of Vice Chairperson was discussed and agreed. It was also agreed that the filling of this office would need careful consideration.  
Any decision on this was deferred until the next plenary meeting or later.  Proposed by Mr. Lyons and seconded by Professor O’ Mullane. 

The creation of an Executive was agreed. Before appointing members to the Executive the following points were agreed:

•	The need for a spread of expertise on the Executive
•	The desire of the Department of Health & Children to maintain an independent status, separated from the Executive - a stance previously taken on the Forum on Fluoridation
•	One of the functions of the Executive would include financial management of the work of the Expert Body - e.g., providing for an ongoing audit of expenditure
•	The Executive could have the function of dealing with matters of urgent concern to the Minister, at his/her request or on own initiative, on behalf of the Expert Body. 

The members appointed to the Executive, were agreed by a consensus of the members 
following a proposal by Mr Lyons and seconded by Professor Clarkson.
The membership of the Executive is as follows -

The Chairman	Dr Seamus O’ Hickey

The Director of the	Ms Deirdre Sadlier, representing the Secretariat
Dental Health
Foundation

Members	Mr Stephen McDermott
	Dr Brian O’ Herlihy
	Mr Ray Parle or Mr Oliver Fogarty Mr Enda Falvey
	(They are to discuss and agree one participant)
Dr Wayne Anderson (wishes to consider his position and give a response at the next meeting)
	Ms Dorothy Gallagher

It was also agreed that the Executive could provide a rapid response to potential but unforeseen developments.

10.  Date of next plenary meeting

The next plenary meeting is scheduled for 23rd June 2004, in a Dublin city centre location to be chosen and agreed.

11  Any Other Business

A “Disclosure of Interest” questionnaire was distributed to members for them to complete and return in advance of the next meeting.  
Members were requested to provide a short Biographical CV which would be placed on the proposed website.

A form for claiming travel and subsistence and related expenses will be circulated to all members before the next plenary meeting.

Dr Joe Mullen suggested that, given the range and diversity of expertise among the membership, at plenary meetings some time could be allocated for members to present developments in their particular fields of expertise.  His suggestion is based on the effect of cross-fertilization from a variety of different disciplines in the work of the Forum on Fluoridation. 

Details of relevant research work and reports, presented since the publication of the Report of the Forum on Fluoridation, 2002 should be made available to the Expert Body and circulated prior to plenary meetings.  Proposed by Professor Clarkson and seconded by Dr Gavin.  Dr Gavin agreed to assist the Secretariat in this regard by starting the process, in advance of the next plenary meeting.

The Chair thanked everyone present for his/her participation. This concluded the business of the meeting.

Signed:	______________________________

Date: 		______________________________