Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

A review group established by the Department of Health and Children, chaired by Dr. Barry McSweeney, chief science adviser to the Government, is currently examining the continued use of iodine tablets as a countermeasure under the national emergency plan for nuclear accidents.

The International Atomic Energy Agency is the principal organisation dealing with nuclear matters at the international level. The agency plays a vital role in setting safety standards and providing for their implementation and co-ordination in member states. On this basis, the United Kingdom has primary responsibility for ensuring the operation of the Sellafield nuclear plant is safe and secure. Nevertheless, Ireland's concerns about Sellafield are clearly and consistently articulated at all suitable opportunities, both in the IAEA and in bilateral contacts regarding the work and mandate of the agency. Ireland actively engages with the agency on a range of issues with the primary objective of ensuring that the safety and security standards adopted by the IAEA reflect only the highest international standards. This in turn will assist in ensuring that nuclear installations in the United Kingdom and globally can be as safe and secure as possible.

One of the principal areas of engagement by Ireland at the IAEA in recent years has been on the issue of the transport of radioactive waste by sea. Coastal states including Ireland argue that, given the risk posed and public concerns about such shipments, it is necessary for coastal states to be fully informed regarding such shipments to enable them to assess the risk and take appropriate measures concerning emergency preparedness and response should they consider it necessary. Ireland has participated actively and constructively and has co-sponsored a resolution with like-minded states at the IAEA's general conference on this issue.

While the issue will continue to prove difficult, the most recent resolution in September 2004 provides a basis on which to address the concerns of coastal states. Ireland, together with like-minded states, will continue to pursue these issues at the IAEA and other relevant international fora. Regarding the transport of radioactive spent fuel by sea, I can also assure the House that the attention of shipping states, including the United Kingdom, is regularly drawn to the Irish Government's policy on this issue in bilateral and multilateral meetings at diplomatic and official level.

The issue of Sellafield also receives rigorous attention in the context of Ireland's participation in the OSPAR Convention. In June 1998, the contracting parties to the OSPAR Convention at the ministerial meeting of the OSPAR commission in Sintra, Portugal, adopted a strategy on radioactive substances. This strategy effectively provides for the virtual elimination of radioactive discharges to the maritime area of the north-east Atlantic, which includes the Irish Sea, by 2020 through progressive and substantial reductions in such discharges.

The Irish Government's view remains that continued discharges of radioactive waste into the Irish Sea from Sellafield are untenable and should cease. The welcome success of improved abatement techniques recently introduced at Sellafield in reducing dramatically the amount of technetium­99 discharged into the Irish Sea indicates the real potential for addressing this issue in a constructive way. Active engagement on this issue, with like-minded countries such as Norway, was a significant factor in prompting a positive response from the UK. I am committed to availing of every opportunity in all relevant fora to maintain and develop alliances with like-minded states to address issues of common interest on Sellafield.

At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in September 2002, Ireland joined a political alliance of countries opposed to any promotion of the use of nuclear energy as a renewable energy source in developing countries. Ireland, along with Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Greece and Austria, signed up to the view that nuclear energy should have no place in the European Union's new energy partnership initiative for developing countries.

Decisions on nuclear policy taken by the UK can potentially have considerable impact on the interests of Ireland. In this context, we have repeatedly emphasised that Ireland has a significant stakeholder interest in the deliberations and consultations that inform such decisions. For this reason, our policy is to proactively engage in these consultative processes and our concerns are clearly and regularly conveyed to the UK authorities. These include most recently, the establishment of the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency, NDA, and the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management, CoRWM. While there remains a significant difference of views between the Irish and UK Governments regarding UK nuclear policy, the legal and diplomatic offensive mounted on the Sellafield issue has contributed significantly to a greater understanding and awareness of the Irish position by the UK authorities.

The measure of the problem of Sellafield is that it is not only a problem with which we have to deal, it will form a legacy that our children and grandchildren and future generations may have to deal with. The view of this Government is that the only long-term, viable and acceptable option is the ending of reprocessing and the safe and orderly closure of the plant. This Government has never wavered from our view that Sellafield should be closed. The case for closure is compelling and the closure process by the United Kingdom should begin soon. This is the message that has been conveyed and will continue to be conveyed to the UK Government at all levels of contact up to and including contact between the Taoiseach and the UK Prime Minister.

The Government will continue to use all diplomatic, political and legal options to achieve this objective. I am glad the House is having this debate. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, would have liked to attend but he was called away at the last minute. I am sure he is pleased the debate is taking place and I apologise on his behalf for his absence.