REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE INAUGURAL JOINT CONFERENCE OF THE ISDH & BSDH, FARMLEIGH
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE INAUGURAL JOINT CONFERENCE OF THE IRISH AND BRITISH SOCIETIES FOR DISABILITY & ORAL HEALTH
Dia dhíbh a chairde. Tá an-áthas orm bheith i bhur measc anseo ar an ócáid speisialta seo. Míle bhuíochas díbh as an gcuireadh agus an fáilte a thug sibh dom.
Good morning everybody and thank you so much for your warm welcome. As Patron of the Irish Society for Disability and Oral Health it is a real pleasure to welcome you all to Dublin, to this beautiful house at Farmleigh, on a fine June day so typical of our legendary Irish summer. To those of you who have made the journey from the UK for the occasion, let me extend the traditional Irish welcome, céad míle fáilte, one hundred thousand welcomes. It is encouraging to see so many of you here united in the common purpose of promoting, preserving and protecting the oral health of people with disabilities and removing the barriers relating to the provision of oral healthcare for them. I am delighted to open this first-ever Joint Conference of Irish and British Societies for Disability and Oral Health.
There is clearly an oral health thread running through my life. Only a few weeks ago, I was in Kilkenny speaking at the Irish Dental Association's Annual Conference Dinner but dinner with dentists is nothing new in our house for I am married to one of the species, my brother is another and my daughter is on the way to becoming one so not only is there no escape at home but there is no escape in the neighbours house either - for we live just across the Park! I even took as the theme of my Presidency, Building Bridges, so you can see the extensive influence on this mere lawyer of oral health professionals.
This inaugural conference is a breath of fresh air for it is yet another example of the dynamic new relationship between Ireland and Britain which is flourishing in so many diverse ways and bringing tangible benefits to the Irish and British peoples. I particularly want to thank President, Tina Gorman and her colleagues in the Irish Society for Disability and Oral Health for the huge effort they have invested in this very special joint conference which gathers a formidable array of expertise from both islands and brings their shared, distilled wisdom to bear on issues which are of common concern. It follows naturally on from the Joint North-South disability roundtable back in 2004 which led to the publication of "Oral Health and Disability: the way forward" a significant milestone initiative by the National Disability Authority, the Dental Health Foundation, and Trinity College Dublin, School of Dental Science. So this is an issue which, thanks to you, now has a fresh momentum and sense of purpose. As that document says so emphatically, our citizens with disabilities are entitled to an oral health service that is intuitively and intelligently alert to their needs both as patients and as people. The debate which you are furthering here moves all of us on down the road of better, more inclusive, more holistic services with outcomes for the patient that can make all of us proud.
As professionals in this important specialist field you each bring with you your own unique piece of a jigsaw puzzle which you are willing to put on the table. You bring a genuine curiosity about the pieces of the puzzle held by others and, together at this conference, you will strive to put those pieces together so that the road-map to best practice can be constructed credibly and soundly.
A lot of people are relying on you to get things as right as possible for your insights will translate directly into the lived lives of men, women and children with disability and their carers, as well as into oral health training and practice. The importance of good oral health can be so easily overlooked or given low priority when considered along with the wide range of other challenges faced by those who live with disabilities. But your work draws our attention away from the more obvious problems to the less obvious but very debilitating consequences of poor oral health, which can greatly exacerbate disability. How people eat, speak, look is important to their diet, their nutrition, their confidence, their communication with others. Pain and discomfort can make life utterly and unnecessarily miserable. Oral health professionals have the power not just to improve oral health but to improve the overall quality of life of those with disability and that can make all the difference between enduring life and enjoying life. Your research already paints a disturbing picture which shows that people with disability are particularly at risk from poor oral health. Your research also tells us that services need to be customized around their special needs if they are to be successful.
Your respective organisations have become important advocates on behalf of the oral healthcare needs of people with disabilities with considerable influence now on public policy and on its priorities. The Irish Society has made a vital contribution to the forthcoming National Oral Health Policy, ensuring that the needs of people with disabilities are well considered and provided for. Your role in the education and training of dental professionals and in research is our guarantee that sensitivity to the specific oral health needs of those with disabilities is mainstreamed and well understood.
Around this time last year, I hosted a Forum on Disability at Áras an Uachtaráin, the house of the President, just across the park. It was chaired brilliantly by my good friend, Professor Michael Schwartz, himself profoundly deaf from birth, something that has not hindered him from becoming a highly acclaimed professional in the field of disability law and advocacy. The key and passionate message from that day was “nothing about us without us.” It is a message I know you take particularly seriously for the patients and their families who are served by oral health professionals in your field are an important constituency whose needs you listen to carefully and help to meet.
Disability can by its very nature impose limitations on individuals but your passion is to ensure that we do not add unnecessary further limitations by neglecting a crucial area of health which can, if dealt with well, bring new light, hope and possibilities into a life. This is not the easiest of vocations but it must surely be among the most respected and most needed. Your commitment to that vocation is so essential if good oral health is to be available to all those with disability. I thank you for making their care your passion and profession and wish you well in your deliberations here and I hope that this is the beginning of very fruitful journey of collaboration for both Societies. 'Sé mo ghuí go mbeidh rath ar an obair atá le déanamh agaibh – every good wish with your endeavours.
Thank you.