Dr. Matthew Crowe:

Whether this technology is introduced in Ireland is a policy question and a question for the Oireachtas. The EPA, like all public bodies in Ireland, is fully accountable to the Oireachtas. When the legislation was introduced in October, it brought some policy clarity to the situation which had not been there before and clarity is always good when it comes to figuring out where we are going. Again, the research programme was set up for a very particular purpose. I mentioned in my opening remarks that a specific aim was set for the programme. It was a joint research programme involving a number of different organisations. In judging the research, one must go back to the original questions and aims the programme was established to deal with at that point in time. As I said in my opening remarks, overall, the research has gone a very long way towards answering the questions it was originally asked to answer. The research was independent. This is not EPA research. It is EPA-funded research but it is also funded by other bodies. The programme was set up for the research to be conducted independently, and this happened as a result of the way in which the consortium was established. Then there are the many other public servants in particular who were involved through the steering committee and the various review groups that contributed to the development of the materials, which the members of the committee all now have as they have since been published in the reports. I reiterate the point I made earlier that Ireland has adopted the precautionary principle here. This will be seen in time as a case study in how to deal with a controversial issue such as this: one should get the evidence, get the information, get the data one needs, take the time to do it, produce the research, produce the reports and then make one's policy decisions in that kind of informed, evidence-based position that will help with the policy.