Results 11,541-11,560 of 18,851 for speaker:Fergus O'Dowd

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: My advice is that the EPA used to need a licence from the RPII to use the materials but now it does not. It does not need to have a licence for nuclear material.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: I am advised that legal clarification from the Attorney General's office was that it did not need one. The RPII was the licensing authority.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: The Bill states that it has the same meaning as that in the 1991 Act.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: There is ionising radiation and there are radioactive substances. I do not know if that is a conflict between the two definitions.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: Section 46 states: Section 3 of the Act of 1992 is amended by the insertion of the following definition: " 'radioactive substance' has the same meaning as it has in the Radiological Protection Act 1991;".

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: Yes, of course.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: Absolutely, yes. That is no problem.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: It states "after consultation with the institute", so I presume that the Minister could not stand over not listening to the advice. However, he or she has to make the regulations on the advice of the institute. The section allows the Minister, in consultation with the RPII, to make regulations to exclude certain classes of low-risk nuclear materials from the requirements of this section....

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: Yes, absolutely. It would be the office of radiological protection within the EPA.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: Certainly. If the Deputy can table an amendment to that effect, we will have a look at it. There is no reason that it should not be regularly reviewed within a reasonable timescale. We can come back to the Deputy on that.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: Yes. It would mean that it would be reviewed regularly. There is no issue about it not being reviewed regularly, as opposed to "from time to time".

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: It states that the institute shall consult prior to the preparation, amendment or revocation of a contingency plan. It starts before any action takes place, so there will be consultation with the Minister at that stage before they effect the regulation. In other words, the Minister would have to take due notice of what was being said. I presume the Minister could not reasonably disagree...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: So the Deputy would like to strengthen the regulatory power of the office within the EPA, so that it would basically be mandatory?

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: Yes, unless the Minister might want to add to it as opposed to subtracting from it.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: I can see the point the Deputy is making.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: Some of those bodies would already be on the EPA's advisory committee, so they would have a route of communication. There could be significant security issues concerning some of the regulations, so it might not necessarily be wise that everybody would know what some of the issues were. I agree with the Deputy, however, that there must be such a role. People can always write to the EPA and...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: In other words, while they would not be making the regulations and would not necessarily know every part of them if there was a high-level security issue, they would have an opportunity to comment in advance of them being made.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: I direct the Deputy to what it states in the regulation, just after line 25 on page 20, section 4: "The institute may, prior to the preparation or revocation of this contingency plan, consult with the Ministers for Defence, Justice and Equality, Health or such other Ministers of the Government or persons as the institute considers appropriate." It is a question of the appropriateness of that...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: I accept that.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (24 Jun 2014)

Fergus O'Dowd: The first point is that the EPA has prosecuted individuals in the past. It prosecutes individuals and revokes licences and it has prosecuted company directors in the past. It will be a condition of all licences that licenceholders comply with any direction issued to them under this section.