Fiach MacConghail (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minster, Deputy Hogan, and appreciate his attendance at this hour of the evening. On 19 March 2013, only four weeks ago, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in the UK, Mr. Edward Davey, MP, granted development consent in respect of a 3,260 MW nuclear power plant development at Hinkley Point, Somerset, in the UK. This is approximately 150 miles from Ireland and our most densely populated east coast. This facility will be as close to many Irish people as it will be to many UK residents. For many Irish citizens, nuclear power facilities cause serious concern regarding risks for health, the environment and the economy, and in particular for the fishing, agriculture, food and tourism industries, which are essential indigenous industries on which Ireland relies.

The Seanad need not be reminded of the long-standing concerns and issues and the documented record of accidents and discharges into the Irish Sea from the UK's nuclear facility at Sellafield, as well as the recent disasters at Fukushima, Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. Despite these legitimate concerns and the proactive stance taken by previous Irish Governments in regard to securing access to Sellafield by Irish nuclear specialists, there appears to have been a fundamental failure in consultation between the UK and Ireland on the transboundary effects of this development, and a failure to involve Ireland and the Irish public in the consultation process essential to the decision-making process.

The documents publicly available make it clear that both the applicant energy company and the UK Government believe that nothing will go wrong and, consequently, there will be no transboundary effects on Ireland. This five-page document, known as a regulation 24 screening document, outlines some of the concerns I am bringing to the Minister's attention. For example, the document deals only with geographical area concerned; the distance to any other EEA member state is not specified and there has no been no scoping exercise outside of the UK. Any assessment of magnitude is not included in this document and neither are questions of frequency and duration. This screening document appears to be the basis on which the UK Government decided not to consult with the Irish Government or, more importantly, the Irish public. Glasgow was consulted about its geographical relationship with Hinkley Point but not Dublin, Wexford or the Minister's constituency. As I said, the distance to the east coast of Ireland is 150-odd miles, so I consider this to be a serious matter.

I would like to know whether the Irish Government was consulted on this decision. It is my contention that the Oireachtas and the Irish public should have been consulted according to the Aarhus convention. If the Irish Government knew about this development, why was the Irish public not consulted?

The second issue is more important and urgent. Does the Minister not consider we should do something about this? What is the intention of the Government and what is its responsibility to consult and inform the Irish public about the terrible and worrying situation regarding the development of the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant? Will the Government seek a judicial review, which has to be submitted by 29 April? It is four weeks since we found out about this and it is a very tight deadline. Perhaps the Minister can suggest other channels by which the Government can communicate its view on this issue, particularly with regard to representing the Irish public's view. How can the Oireachtas and the people of Ireland assist the Government in perhaps making a complaint to the European Commission or making an application for interim measures or other actions with the European Court of Justice?

All of us - those in the Oireachtas and all other Irish citizens - need to be fully briefed and informed and do everything we can to stop this development, which will take place over approximately 65 hectares. The fact that the Irish public has not been consulted is deeply worrying and possibly illegal. We now have an opportunity to examine the decision and to prevent the nuclear development from proceeding, but we have very little time.