Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

I am thankful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate. I am sharing time with Deputies Maureen O'Sullivan, Catherine Murphy and Mick Wallace.

It is a very sad day for the Japanese people, and it is important that we offer our deepest sympathy and our condolences to them on behalf of the people of Ireland on their major loss. It was an horrific thing to happen to the Japanese people. To lose so many people in this way is a nightmare for all of their families and friends. I offer my deepest sympathy to the Japanese community in Ireland also on their loss. To see images of mass graves is deeply saddening and, once again, the families have to bear the brunt of the hurt and loss.

To make the situation worse, they must deal with the nuclear issue raising its nasty head to add more doom and gloom to their grief. This a very serious issue. The families and the country must deal first with the aftermath of the earthquake and the tsunami. In addition, they must deal with the restructuring of their country, including the infrastructure and so on, and the hurt and loss of families, and now they are looking over their shoulders at the nuclear issue.

I feel very strongly about this issue because I am very concerned about the devastation that could happen in Japan but also across the world. Nuclear devastation in Japan could have worldwide health repercussions. The nuclear crisis in Japan, with effects occurring in all six reactors on the site in question, is now officially ranked as level 6 and is not yet resolved, if it ever can be resolved. To put that in context, Chernobyl was ranked at level 7. The United States is expecting nuclear contamination to hit that country within two days, and western Europe later. There has been and will be increased seismic activity worldwide, and there are other reactors built in fault zones. Japan's disaster, therefore, will become a world disaster. That is something we must pay a great deal of attention to, particularly in our own country.

In February and March, earthquakes occurred along the ring of fire in Chile, New Zealand and Japan. If this continues, the west coast of North America might take the next hit. Geologists are already predicting that. The washing up of fish and whales on beaches may have to do with electromagnetic disturbances under water, which could cause earthquakes and tsunamis. I say that in regard to an international health issue. Not only is this a crisis for the Japanese people, but it is now becoming a major international crisis for all the countries around the world.

In fairness to the Japanese and their resilience, they were probably one of the most well-prepared in the world in terms of this disaster. They had erected the barriers and their buildings were prepared for earthquakes, yet they got caught as well. It is important that we are aware of that. They had erected huge walls to protect against tsunamis, and in fairness to them a higher number of people could have lost their lives. They had a nuclear back-up system as well but they did not calculate for an earthquake as high as 9 on the Richter scale occurring. Their protective measures were not enough and, once again, an improbable chain of events has happened. It is important that we raise this issue from an international health and safety point of view. It is now at the point where workers will be asked to volunteer for suicide missions and sacrifice themselves to save Japan by going into the deadly radioactive areas to try to fix the problems and get the electricity supply reconnected to run the pumps and so forth. Again, I commend the bravery of the Japanese people, particularly those who are taking those risks in the interests of their country. As this was not foreseen as a possibility, there are no manuals to follow for dealing with six reactors in a meltdown or potential meltdown process.

It is important that these issues are mentioned, but the main focus must be our sympathy and support for the Japanese people, who have suffered a sad loss. I offer my deepest sympathy and support to the Japanese community in Ireland. I am sure many of their families and friends have been deeply affected by the earthquake and tsunami.

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