Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will share time with Deputy Louise O'Reilly.

We welcome the contents of the Bill, although we may table amendments on Committee Stage. The Bill contains many technical changes in regard to the responsibility for radiological and nuclear safety. We know how important safety is in this area. We realise also this stems from the transposition of EU legislation into Irish law, which will be followed by regulations.

Nuclear power poses an immense threat to society when things go wrong. We hope the State will continue its resistance to its use as a source of energy or the creation of a nuclear industry. Nuclear power is used by many states as an answer to emissions reductions, but this is not the way to go. Instead, we need to show vision and use and grow the wide portfolio of renewable energy resources available to us on this island, with the aim of being self-sufficient in electricity production.

At a committee meeting this morning I spoke about our 2020 renewable energy targets and stressed the need not to put all of our eggs in one basket, as we are doing in relying on onshore wind enegy. Instead, if we are ever to replace fossil fuels, we need to develop a wide array of renewable energy resources such as biomass, biogas, offshore wind energy, solar energy and microgeneration. There is no solar energy after 6 p.m., while there is no wind blowing on a frosty night; therefore, having energy resources that complement the intermittent nature of solar and wind energy is vital. On nuclear power, we cannot take the moral high ground, as some Members of the House do. On the one hand, we say we are nuclear-free on this island, but, on the other, we freely use the electricity generated at nuclear power plants in Britain that is supplied through the interconnector. There is no morality in that regard. We should have the interconnector and create the proposed interconnector with France. I had the pleasure of meeting the French ambassador to discuss this subject last year. We can drive around in electric cars and have energy-efficient homes, but many of them are powered by nuclear energy supplied from Britain and energy produced from coal which is a very dirty fuel. The interconnector should be seen as part of the wide number of renewable energy sources we can develop.

It is estimated that we have one third of Europe's offshore wind resources. We need to see ourselves as being in a position not just to satisfy our own needs but to be able to export some of that energy. We are the only country with an Atlantic coast in Europe that has no offshore wind farms. Portugal, France and the UK have them but we do not. We are the only country facing out into the Atlantic that does not do that. We need to look seriously at that. Some countries bordering the North Sea are ahead of us when they do not have the wind advantages we have. Some Deputies have put forward this proposal on relying on another states for nuclear power. That is fine. I do not agree with it but we must accept it as part of the mix coming into us. However, we should aim to become a net exporter, which would mean that we would not be using nuclear power. One is either for or against nuclear power. We need to work on that and turn the tide around in terms of becoming a net exporter of electricity.

With regard to nuclear safety in this State, with which this legislation is concerned, we also need to be aware of nuclear safety vis-à-visour neighbours. Ultimately, in the event of ongoing environmental damage or an outright nuclear accident, borders will not be relevant. Some of these plants such as Sellafield are very close to us. What happens in one state will affect its neighbours. Nuclear fallout and pollution spread. We saw some terrible examples over the years. We are all aware of the ongoing issues that occur with Sellafield. There are also issues with the first new nuclear power plant to be built in Britain for 30 years. This nuclear power plant is currently under construction in Somerset on the south-west coast of England. That is just 240 km from this State. The Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee made recommendations concerning environmental impact assessment relating to the Hinkley Point nuclear reactor in the UK. Many Irish environmental NGOs, most notably An Taisce, have raised concerns over the implications the development could have for Ireland. I have submitted parliamentary questions on this issue but have received no clarity about what this Government has done or plans to do with regard to the building of the plant and the British Government's requirement to consult about the environmental implications. The Minister might come back to me with a more substantial response on that. There will now be a public consultation, which has come about after a five-year legal battle. The case taken by An Taisce argued that the UK Government's decision to approve the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant without first consulting the public in Ireland was contrary to international, EU and English law. It subsequently lost this case. It was pressure from Germany, Holland and Denmark and not, it seems, pressure from the UK's closest neighbour, Ireland, that finally opened up the avenue of consultation which opened this week. If we are going to take the issue of nuclear power seriously, we need to consider this State's environmental measures in which this State does not seem to have taken much of an interest up to now. There have been reports about the use of parts of this island, particularly the Six Counties, for the disposal of nuclear waste. This also needs to be a major concern for us. We do not want nuclear dumps anywhere on this island.

There are many aspects to this Bill and many technical elements. Radiological safety involves the transposition of the directive and regulations will follow from this Bill. There is a proposal in the Bill for registration with regard to dealing with radiological equipment. In terms of the registration, there will be changes to accession to the upcoming European Union (Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Dangers from Medical Exposure to lonising Radiation) Regulations 2018. Myself and other Deputies have been contacted directly by chiropractors regarding future regulation that will stem from this Bill. I raised the matter with the Taoiseach two weeks ago. Chiropractors have called for their inclusion under the regulations. The Minister for Health has said that the statutory instrument transposing the EU directive will designate those who may refer for radiological tests, those who may carry them out and other functions. In this regard, we should look at including other medical professionals such as nurses, doctors, dentists, chiropractors and so on.

The issue of radon is of concern to me. There are maps of Laois, Offaly and Westmeath that show where a high risk of exposure to radon exists. We know exposure to radon is a cause of lung cancer. Many of us stopped smoking years ago to lessen the risk of lung cancer but we might have radon in our homes. I listened carefully to what the Minister had to say about this. People in the midlands, in counties like Laois, Offaly and Westmeath, want to know about this. We do not know if there are radon barriers in houses built in the past 15 years. I live in a house that was built ten years ago. I do not know if it has a radon barrier and I would like to know. If there is no radon barrier in it, I would like to put one in and I am sure my neighbours would like to do so as well. If it needs to be done, it would be good if we assisted homeowners in this regard. I know there are competing demands but this is a fairly strong public health issue that affects where families live, eat and sleep. If there is a high risk of exposure to radon in midland counties like Laois, Offaly and Westmeath along with Kildare and other areas, we would like to see it tested. The local authority in an area where there is a high risk of exposure to radon should be able to say that it is a condition of planning permission that a radon barrier is installed when a house is built. It is a form of sheeting that goes under the floor. This must be a condition of planning permission. We introduce measures relating to road safety and fire safety when houses are being built and that is all right and good but we should look for radon barriers.

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