The current plans and consultation process for the establishment of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority include a recognition of the importance of Ireland as a significant stakeholder in the protection of our shared environment with the United Kingdom. They are also an important recognition that the legacy of nuclear operations in the United Kingdom will require many decades to clean up and, in particular, that the way in which the Sellafield site has been managed by BNFL has been wholly inadequate. The short-term commercially-driven outlook of BNFL must be replaced by a body which recognises that the management of operations at Sellafield requires a long-term commitment to safety, security and environmental protection, and that this will ultimately cost many billions of pounds. We should see such a body in the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.