Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I join Deputy Kenny in observing the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl. Our thoughts are with the families who died or suffered and who continue to suffer, as we have seen in the programmes broadcast in the past week. Thousands of families in Ireland have become personally involved with children and families from the region through the efforts of Adi Roche and many others who worked on this issue during the past 20 years.

Across Europe, renewed debate is taking place on the viability of nuclear energy. As I noted here on a number of occasions recently, it is my belief that nuclear energy is not a solution. Its consequences are dangerous in the short, medium and long term and, as a non-nuclear State, we have played a strong role in preventing the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and in developing a legal strategy to force the eventual closure of Sellafield, which is located on our doorstep. Today is a day for remembrance and reflection on the victims, both living and dead, of the Chernobyl disaster and I am sure everybody in the House will join Deputy Kenny in that.

On the wider issue, the Deputy will be aware that the Government has continued to fight for the safe closure of Sellafield. The site poses an unacceptable threat to this country on the grounds that ongoing pollution, poor safety records and the potentially serious impact of a major disaster or terrorist attack could affect all aspects of life here. The Government has been proactive at every level in taking political, diplomatic and legal action to advance Ireland's cause.

As regards Deputy Kenny's questions on the level of preparedness, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has spoken about that, as has the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland in recent days. For the past 20 years, national administrations, in accordance with guidance from the UN, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European Commission, have been developing and updating nuclear emergency responses on an ongoing basis. Our national plan, which was updated last Christmas and has been published, is designed to respond to a major disaster in a nuclear installation in the UK or elsewhere. It contains comprehensive arrangements for the early notification of nuclear accidents to the competent Irish authorities.

On the specific question put by Deputy Kenny, an agreement is in place between Ireland and Britain, as well as internationally, to immediately relay to governments information on any incident of this kind. That would be done at EU level and by national governments. In fairness to the British Government, it has relayed detailed information when incidents took place and has become stronger in doing so in recent years. That does not change our position that we would rather see it updated. There is also timely accurate advice to the public, mobilisation of the emergency services, monitoring radioactive emissions and co-operation with international agencies. The plan has been audited and validated.

Deputy Kenny asked if I was satisfied. One is never satisfied on such an issue because one hopes it will never be tested and the only way to guarantee that would be if Sellafield were not there. The national emergency committee meeting involves all the services, including the Garda, the Defence Forces and international experts. We have used many international experts in recent years, particularly in the preparation of our cases. People with world expertise have assisted us in our planning and our fight in the case.

On Deputy Kenny's last question, although I do not know what the final British policy will be, everything I have heard from British politicians from the two main parties is that they are still committed to nuclear energy. I was watching a debate last night in which politicians spoke about Chernobyl. They all said how terrible Chernobyl was, but said they were pro-nuclear. It is up to every politician to reconcile his or her mind on these issues.

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