The Minister for Health and Children, Micheál Martin TD established the former Irish Expert Body on Fluorides and Health in April 2004. It had broad representation from the areas of dentistry, public health medicine, toxicology, engineering, management, environment and the public, as identified within the Report of the Forum on Fluoridation.
The work of the former Expert Body was to identify and implement the necessary measures to ensure that this vital element of public health policy was delivered in line with the Forum on Fluoridation Report (2002) Recommendations and that the systems employed to give effect to these are sound, transparent, and meet the highest standards of quality assurance and accountability.
The Dental Health Foundation (DHF) acted as the Secretariat to the former Expert Body from 2004 until its dissolution in 2022. In this role the DHF provided support to the Expert Body in the organisation of meetings; the development of the work agenda and the management and co-ordination of research initiatives; and the duties associated with the implementation of decisions taken by the Expert Body.