Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

The massive earthquake which struck off the coast of Japan on 10 March and the resulting tsunami are stark reminders of the forces nature can unleash and how vulnerable and powerless humanity can be in the face of them. The scale of devastation in northern Japan is enormous. I offer the Government's sympathy on behalf of the Irish people to the Government and people of Japan who have been so badly affected.

In crisis management terms, the Japanese people have faced enormous difficulties, as Deputy Wallace outlined. In addition to the coastal communities swept away by the massive wall of water, resulting in many thousands of deaths, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and are being accommodated in temporary shelters. There are issues of power and water supply outages, fuel and food shortages, damage to critical infrastructure and transport networks, all making it difficult for relief efforts to function and for the grim task of searching and body recovery to be undertaken. Nonetheless, the manner in which the resources of the Japanese state have been mobilised reflects the degree of preparedness that had been achieved, although the people had hoped never to be struck by the record-breaking earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale.

The extent to which we in this country have a generic emergency management system in place which is understood by all, is capable of effective response and is supported by specific preparedness for anticipated emergency scenarios is one of the Government's priority concerns. Events in Japan show the economic consequences as well as the human, social and environmental costs of natural disasters on this scale. While the scale of challenges nature has thrown at us in recent years cannot be compared with the massive Japanese earthquake, the lesson is that we must do our utmost to be as prepared as possible. While no level of preparedness can necessarily prevent or avoid the impact of severe natural events, we must be confident that we can respond to and manage issues that emerge regardless of the type or scale of the challenge faced. Among other endeavours, this involves a planned inter-agency approach, mobilising all necessary responses at local level, as well as clear communication with the public of what is being done. I will be keeping our arrangements in this regard under review with my Government colleagues in the period ahead.

Added to the difficulty faced by the Japanese authorities and people has been the impact of the earthquake on their nuclear power plants, where the loss of cooling capacity has resulted in explosions and fires in several nuclear reactors at the Fukushima power plant. Japanese authorities have battled since the earthquake and tsunami to regain control of the damaged facilities and to minimise the impact of the loss of containment and release of radioactive material. They have provided information for and worked with the relevant international bodies including the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, and the World Health Organisation, WHO. The incidents to date have been rated as a five on the seven-point international nuclear and radiological event scale, INES, indicating the serious nature of the events and that the impact is in a wider area than the immediately affected power plant.

The occurrence of this serious nuclear event in Japan has led people and Governments across the world to ask searching questions about safety in the nuclear industry. In Ireland, a non-nuclear state, we prioritise safety over all else in matters of nuclear policy, but we are also concerned about the potential economic consequences arising from releases of radioactive material. Those whose responsibility it is to protect the world's citizens and environment from the consequences of a nuclear accident must never approach this task with complacency.

I welcome, therefore, the timely response from the European Commission to the events in Japan and their implications for the approach to nuclear safety across Europe. Nuclear safety is by its nature an international issue. The Chernobyl accident 25 years ago caused widespread releases of radioactivity across many countries. Thirty years previously, and closer to home, the 1957 fire at Windscale, now Sellafield, in Cumbria also led to the unplanned release of radioactivity. The potential for trans-boundary impacts from a nuclear accident, however unlikely, means that nuclear safety must be a priority consideration for nuclear and non-nuclear states alike.

The planned stress tests of all European nuclear sites announced this week are welcome. In order to play an effective part in improving nuclear safety in Europe, these tests must involve independent experts, be based on a stringent and comprehensive set of criteria, and their findings must translate into action where required to improve safety. The process should be transparent so that the public can be properly and realistically informed. The stress tests should also be informed to the fullest extent possible by what occurred in Japan. It will be some time before a full analysis can be carried out, but it seems clear even now that a combination of factors contributed to the seriousness of the Fukushima event. This underlines the importance of considering nuclear safety from a broad perspective, of identifying not only the possible risks but the possible interactions between those risks, or what is called the "domino effect".

Ireland has long been a strong promoter of nuclear safety internationally. Events in Japan underline how important it is that this perspective be articulated clearly and with conviction. I will work with my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, and other ministerial colleagues to ensure this continues. Our position on nuclear safety is also informed by our proximity to the United Kingdom's large civil nuclear industry and, in particular, to the Sellafield complex whose environmental impact and accident potential have been a source of concern in Ireland for many years. It is our expectation that the Sellafield facility will be stress tested in line with the new arrangements being agreed at European Union level.

Ireland has a bilateral agreement in place with the United Kingdom on the early notification of a nuclear accident or incident of radiological significance and the exchange of information. My Department is in regular contact with the relevant British Government Departments and agencies on nuclear safety and radiological protection matters. I expect to have the opportunity to discuss this strategy with the British Secretary of State, Chris Huhne, at the meeting of EU Environment Ministers this weekend. The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, RPII, has bilateral arrangements with the regulatory bodies responsible for radiological protection and nuclear safety in the United Kingdom and keeps my Department fully briefed on these matters.

Since the beginning of the emergency in Japan, the relevant authorities in the State have been monitoring the situation, taking account of information available through the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European Union information exchange system. My Department is the lead Department for nuclear scenarios. In accordance with its national emergency plan for nuclear accidents, NEPNA, the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management has convened a national co-ordination group of the relevant Departments and agencies to review the available information and to provide advice, via the Department of Foreign Affairs, for Irish citizens in Japan.

This group met first on Saturday, 12 March and again on Monday, 14 March and Friday, 18 March, and continues to monitor the evolving situation on a daily basis. The national co-ordination group is advised by the relevant specialists in this field from the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, Met Éireann, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the public health section of the Health Service Executive. Its best assessment remains that the release of radioactivity in Japan is extremely unlikely to impact on Ireland. Advice and information on the situation has been provided by expert spokespersons from these organisations and is also available on their websites.

The importance of having access to good information and the best scientific advice in this type of situation cannot be overstated. The RPII is an independent public body under the aegis of my Department and was established in 1992 under the Radiological Protection Act 1991. The RPII's role is to ensure Irish people and the environment are adequately protected from the harmful effects of ionising radiation. The RPII does this by providing advice to the public and the Government, monitoring people's exposure to radiation, regulating and licensing those who use radiation sources for our benefit such as health care facilities, providing technical support to Ireland's plan to deal with radiation emergencies, NEPNA, and co-operating with similar bodies internationally and with international bodies including the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European Commission

The RPII, with support from Met Éireann, local authorities and the Defence Forces, operates a national monitoring network for the detection and measurement of radioactivity in the air and the deposition of contamination on the ground. The network has been updated recently to increase reliability, range of measurements and geographic coverage. It consists of continuous gamma dose rate monitoring systems at 14 sites. These measurements are carried out 24 hours a day and continuously fed back to the RPII with an alarm system for elevated readings. An additional 27 non-automated gamma dose rate measurement sites are operated by the Reserve Defence Forces. The agencies of the State charged with the responsibility to monitor radiation are active and meet regularly.

I assure the House that we will update the Dáil on a regular basis so Members have the fullest possible information so we can be clear the events in Japan, while tragic for the Japanese, do not have consequences for the Irish people.

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