Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Táim buíoch as a bheith ábalta labhairt anseo. Tá an t-ádh orainn i nDún na nGall go bhfuil muid beannaithe le 1,100 km de chósta ar bhéal ár ndorais. Níl radharc níos deise ann ná radharc an Atlantaigh fhiáin. Is é an cheist atá ag an lucht is mó ná ceist faoin mhéid atá faoin uisce agus faoin dochar a bhaineann leis. Dúradh go bhfuil timpeall ar 240,000 tona d'airm cheimiceacha na Breataine i ndumpaí ar chúl Oileán Thoraí. Tá imní ar mhuintir na háite faoi seo. Cad é go díreach atá sa dumpa? Cé mhéad atá ann? Cén dainséar a bhaineann leis? Chímid an tionchar a bhí ag na ceimiceáin ar na míolta móra agus na deilfeanna a tháinig isteach ar thránna le blianta anuas. Caithfimid a fháil amach cén nasc atá ann idir na dumpaí seo agus sláinte na n-ainmhithe sin.

At the end of the Second World War, in Britain alone there was in excess of 1.2 million tonnes of surplus ammunition and bombs. The disposal method adopted by the British at the time was to dump it at sea. Unfortunately, we are aware of a number of these dumps off the coast of Donegal. In 2010, an OSPAR report stated that there were five separate dumps off the coast of Donegal, each with dangerous and potentially lethal substances such as mustard gas and phosphorous. The report states that the true extent of the dumps and the danger they pose is unknown. The reality is that this could be seriously dangerous for inhabitants of this area. The people of west Donegal have raised concerns about the nature of these chemicals and the risk to inhabitants, sea life and the environment.

A deep-sea diver recently gave an interview on Raidió na Gaeltachta. I myself spoke to a deep-sea diver who had been diving in the area on a different occasion. Both described how they found a large area of the seabed littered with large black drums with hazard signage on them in the waters off Tory Island. The diver said:

We were looking for shipwrecks, went down 40 to 45 metres and came across black drums with green stuff growing on them. There were a few thousand of them. They were heaped in a hill-like structure and had skull and crossbones on them.

The diver to whom I personally was speaking said that all he could see around him in every direction were these barrels on the seabed. To me, this account is deeply disturbing.

There is a wider debate to be had regarding these concerns in west Donegal and other similar concerns. In 1995, the then Minister, Hugh Coveney, told this House that a report would be published in respect of the issue by the year 2000 and that this would contain comprehensive analysis. We have raised this issue through the local authorities. Donegal County Council unanimously called for the Department to examine the matter. I have raised this with previous Ministers, including Deputy Kelly, but no action has been taken.

My question and the question some in west Donegal also have relates to their legitimate concerns about the dump behind Tory Island and other dumps off the coast of Donegal. Will the Department look at the stability of these chemical weapons which, in some cases, were dumped nearly 100 years ago? Are they still safe? What is in them? How large are they? Is it okay to leave them on our seabed?

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