Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am disappointed with the Minister's response to amendment No. 1. I thought the Government would have given more consideration to this because, as far as I can see, it is very well thought out and I would have thought that the Government would be in a position to support it. Ultimately, what neighbouring states do with their nuclear programmes is as important to us as it is to their own people. If our own Government was engaged in a programme of nuclear energy, it would be incumbent on every one of us to have a say on it and, as legislators, we would be entitled to be involved in the formation of a plan relating to it. We do not, however, have such a programme and we are not, therefore, the masters of our own destiny because we are relying on the safety measures and precautions that other countries put in place and we are completely beholden to them. I would have thought Deputy Stanley's amendment would have been one the Department could look at more closely.

I would like to say more on the issue of radon but I will wait until the debate on amendments Nos. 6 and 7, which, I presume, we will go through in detail due to their importance. Discussing radon in the context of those amendments would be more appropriate.

In the context of the Minister's reply, I am very unhappy with this being completely dismissed in the way it has been. I would like the Minister and his officials to reconsider the position on it.

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