Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

While the establishment of the NDA was portrayed in some quarters as a new dawn for nuclear clean-up in the United Kingdom, particularly at Sellafield, we in Ireland have been down the road before when other new dawns have proved false.

As with so much else, the devil is in the detail in so far as the NDA is concerned. The Irish Government considers that this authority is fundamentally compromised by the fact that it continues to engage in commercial mixed oxide fuel manufacturing and the continued operation of the reprocessing plants, THORP and magnox at Sellafield.

These operations continue to generate additional waste and radioactive discharges into the Irish Sea. The recent leak at THORP, which caused 83,000 litres of highly radioactive material — a swimming pool full — to leak into a secondary containment area, was the latest and most serious example of the long-standing poor operational safety record at Sellafield. The worst aspect of this incident was the revelation that management was complacent and ignored very clear warning signals that something was wrong. This and the fact that the leak occurred speak volumes.

I have availed of the extensive consultation process in place between the United Kingdom and Ireland to convey all of the concerns of the Irish Government on the mandate and operation of the NDA. I reiterated these concerns at my meeting with the chairman and the chief executive of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in Dublin last November. Our principal concerns relate to the assignment of responsibility for commercial reprocessing and related operations to a body responsible for nuclear clean-up and decommissioning, reliance on income from reprocessing operations by the authority to fund clean-up operations, the failure of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to engage with the principle of waste minimisation, our wish that the THORP and Magnox reprocessing plants be shut down and the commissioning of the MOX plant discontinued, ensuring that the decommissioning of nuclear facilities does not result in radioactive discharges to the environment, particularly the Irish Sea, and ensuring the contracting out of various decommissioning and clean-up projects on a competitive basis do not compromise safety.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is currently engaged in a review of issues posed by the shutdown of the THORP plant. The issues raised by the current shutdown at the THORP plant represent a real benchmark for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and, ultimately, the UK Government in respect of their stated objective of decommissioning and clean up.

Members will be aware of the Government's policies in this area, as set out in An Agreed Programme for Government. The Government regards the continued existence of Sellafield as an unacceptable threat to Ireland and believes it should be closed. We will continue to use every diplomatic and legal route available towards achieving the safe, orderly and efficient closure of the plant.

In so far as the legal route is concerned, the Government's international legal proceedings against the UK under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in respect of the Sellafield MOX plant were suspended in 2003 pending resolution of jurisdictional issues in the dispute raised by the European Commission. These issues are the subject of proceedings by the European Commission against Ireland before the European Court of Justice.

The Advocate General's opinion, which was issued in the case on 18 January last, considers that the ECJ has jurisdiction in respect of the dispute between Ireland and the UK. While this opinion favours the case made by the Commission, it will be a matter for the court to issue the final judgment, which is expected later in the year. The final outcome should clarify international and community law in respect of the protection of the marine environment and other issues. When this case is completed, the Irish Government will expect the Commission to act robustly in respect of the operation of the Sellafield plant, which has not been the case to date.

The Government has also been very proactive on the diplomatic front, not only in the UK, but also in Europe. The House will recall that last October I met with UK Secretary of State at the Department of Trade and Industry, Mr. Alan Johnson MP, to inter alia convey Ireland's serious concerns about the THORP incident the previous April. I also conveyed in the strongest possible terms the view of this Government that reprocessing at Sellafield is unwelcome, uneconomic and environmentally untenable, compromises safety and should be brought to an end.

Earlier this year in Brussels, I met the EU Commissioner for Energy, Andris Piebalgs, to articulate clearly the Government's view that we expect the Commission to exercise its competence robustly in respect of the continued operations at Sellafield. In so doing, I specifically mentioned the THORP leak and the B30 storage pond and left the Commissioner in no doubt as to the depth of Ireland's concerns in respect of these issues. Subsequently, the Commission issued a formal warning to the UK regarding accounting and reporting procedures currently in place at Sellafield. This action by the Commission represents a step in the right direction but I am determined on behalf of the Government to ensure that where the Commission claims competence, it actively exercises it.

My officials and scientific experts from the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland continue to meet with their UK counterparts on a regular basis during which Ireland's concerns regarding operations at Sellafield are raised. My policy is to use the consultation processes to articulate the views of the Irish Government in respect of nuclear issues and to ensure Ireland's interests are represented and protected. The current consultation document on future UK energy requirements is no exception in this regard. The Government is determined through my Department and the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland to fully engage in this consultation process. The current legal and diplomatic initiative by the Government in respect of Sellafield has resulted in increasing recognition by the UK Government and its agencies of the priority accorded to the issue of Sellafield by the Irish Government.

Some progress has been made. We now have unprecedented levels of co-operation and coordination between our two countries. Welcome as that is, however, a significant difference — indeed an unbridgeable gap — remains in our perspectives on nuclear issues in general and Sellafield in particular.

I conclude by reassuring the House that the policy of this Government in respect of Sellafield remains clear and unambiguous and that we will continue to pursue all legal, political and diplomatic options to secure its safe and early closure. I will assign my remaining time to my colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, who has a long-standing and deep interest in this issue.

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