Furthermore, the meeting recognised the concerns of Ireland and others about the continuing discharge of technetium-99 from Sellafield and our view that these discharges should cease immediately. It also welcomed the UK's recent request to BNFL to stop discharges from the MAC treatment process for the next nine months. This will create the necessary space for further research into abatement technologies for technetium-99, which I hope will lead to a safe and permanent cessation of these discharges from Sellafield. The Government considers the moratorium proposal to be a welcome and positive development in that it would bring about an immediate cessation of tc-99 discharges to the Irish Sea. We strongly urge that the moratorium proposal be implemented.