The decision by Britain to proceed with the implementation of the MOX plant against the background of an increase in international terrorism and after waiting five years and engaging in consultation on five occasions is hardly the action of a friendly neighbour 50 to 60 miles from our coast. It is regrettable that, at a time when the distrust of centuries in Anglo-Irish relations is dissipating quickly, the British Government persists in causing needless ongoing friction between the two countries by its refusal to acknowledge our legitimate concerns about the threat of the plant at Sellafield and the MOX plant to our people and marine and terrestrial environments. That is sad and regrettable but a fact, one the Minister has faced every day since he took office. He has reaffirmed and reinforced his determination to deal with it.