Mr. Aidan Dunning:

To pick up on the point made by the Chairman and on Deputy Phelan's point about the health issues relating to mobile phones and masts in general, it is an issue that is of concern to us because mobile broadband will be an important element in terms of delivering the plan, particularly in rural areas, and to do that masts are an important part of the infrastructure. It is primarily a matter for the Department of Health, and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to a degree, in terms of their planning role. We liaise with them. There are international standards within which service providers must stay, and I understand they are monitored by the United Nations which sets the limits. They provide guidance to the public bodies, which are the planning authorities, and also to the health authorities. Those standards are accepted internationally. There are masts throughout the world. They are not just in Ireland or the United Kingdom; they can be found everywhere. An attempt is being made to have a harmonised system in place, and I understand that is the case, and the requirement in Ireland is that the service providers would meet that.

There may be a separate issue in terms of engaging with local communities and reassuring them in that regard. We have evidence that in other areas in the past, the level of engagement was not optimal, which has led to problems arising subsequently. The service providers need to be aware of this and there is an onus on the Department, the Government and our colleagues in other Departments to try to improve situations. This is something we will raise with colleagues in the Department of Health and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

However, my understanding is that a framework is there and the key point is to get the information to the people.