Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

Along with other Members, I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am glad to have the opportunity to make some points on this issue. I agree with Senator O'Toole, and there is much agreement on this issue. No Member would say there is not genuine concern about the possibility of health risks when it comes to radiation from masts and pylons, and I am not saying there is not. I support the amendment, which I second if it has not been formally seconded.

The main truth in the debate came from Senator O'Toole, in that a frenzy of fear is generated every time a mast is erected in an area. I was party, as was Senator Finucane, to the joint committee report on this issue. It came up with a number of recommendations which the Minister of State has acknowledged. His expert group is now determining the actions that can best be taken in line with the recommendations in the report.

The bottom line on this issue is that the World Health Organisation indicates that there is nothing to suggest within the criteria it recommends that such structures are damaging to anybody's health. Equally, there would appear to be nothing to guarantee or state conclusively there is not. In the meantime, while the expert group is determining what actions are to be taken and while we are monitoring best practice, we have been somewhat negligent in getting the facts as we know them out there. This would put many people's minds at rest. I am interested to see what the scientific research produces, and whether there is a conclusive finding one way or another. One can well ask what could come from a mast that does not come from a hair-dryer when we hold it up to our head, or from a microwave oven when something is being heated at a high temperature? We have so many different appliances around our homes which are essential to our lives that it would provoke a major outcry were we to suggest hair-dryers were to be removed from the market or microwave ovens could not be used in the home.

We should view these issues in perspective. Perhaps what we have failed to do heretofore is to make the information we have available, namely that the World Health Organisation states that, provided we operate to its criteria, there is not a major problem. Notwithstanding that, we could do better in terms of other issues relating to masts. I acknowledge what Senator O'Toole stated in regard to satellites. We may end up going that route. Each local authority should select a number of sites where masts can be best placed and then, effectively, market those to the whole range of people who wish to put antennae on them. This could lead to the resolution of many disputes and unrest in the community. It equally could be a source of revenue for local authorities.

I do not wish to eat into Senator Dooley's time. I commend the amendment to the House. I hope we will continue to carry out research in this area and find a conclusion but, in the meantime, all the information we have at our disposal should be made available to mobile telephone users, people in relative proximity to masts and the public in general in order that their minds can be somewhat set to rest.