Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)

The very long-winded response of the Minister is a far cry from "Roche launches nuclear war on Blair". His spin doctor obviously got a different hand regarding the matter than the one he is presenting to us. A large section of the nuclear industry in Britain has been privatised. At a recent meeting of the committee, it emerged that while the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority that has been set up is not directly responsible for that sector, it was aware there were intentions to further privatise the industry. Its own operation for decommissioning is partly privatised. Does the Minister agree that privatisation is a very dangerous road to go down given the importance of safety in the industry? Does he not agree that there is a real danger that privatised organisations will cut corners to make profit? The nature and make-up of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority are such that it is in that category.

I do not believe the Minister answered Question No. 15 although he told us a lot about the accident. Is there any hope or chance that the THORP plant will not reopen? Did the Minister raise this with his UK counterpart when he talked to him? We certainly raised it with the decommissioning agency but it was not its business. In fairness to the ambassador, he assisted somewhat but was not able to give a definitive reply, as ambassadors are wont to do. Will the Minister state what he found out about the plant starting up again? In this regard, I am not referring to the 2010 date.

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