Dáil debates

Tuesday, 3 February 2004

3:00 pm

Photo of Martin CullenMartin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I do not accept that. There is, and has been, fairly strong consensus in this House. As a former Minister with some responsibility in the area, the Deputy knows the difficulties first hand. However, we have advanced matters quite far under two cases, OSPAR and UNCLOS — the Deputy referred only to one. The situation regarding the European Court of Justice and the Commission believing that it had primacy of jurisdiction in the case remains to be resolved. However, I reiterate that it is important in the view of everyone in the House that the RPII gains access to Sellafield. I and, I am sure, all parties in this House feel very strongly about that.

It would help enormously in confidence-building between our two countries if that happened. It must be possible for two countries which have repeatedly demonstrated their abilities in many other more difficult areas to reach some understanding on the issue. I explained the critical nature of the issue and the necessity that the UK deliver on it. The cases to which the Deputy referred are not yet completed. They represented a substantial step forward, which was fully supported by the Government. I thank the Attorney General for the enormous time which he gave to move forward the issue. Ultimately, the closure of Sellafield is a clear objective.

In the meantime, I would like to see the moratorium on the technetium 99 discharges finalised so that there are no discharges into the Irish Sea. I have made it clear publicly that I see no moral, economic, environmental or other justification for any discharges whatsoever into the Irish Sea since, once the discharges enter the environment, the damage is done for hundreds of years. The waste could and should be stored in underground facilities from which it could be retrieved so that when technology develops to the point where it can deal with such issues, at least we can do that.

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