Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Naughten, to the House. I welcome the Radiological Protection (Amendment) Bill 2018. The Bill is an important step to strengthen Ireland's protections against nuclear and radiological threats, which Fianna Fáil fully supports. Fianna Fáil has always been and remains wholly opposed to any form of nuclear development within Ireland and in other places where nuclear development presents a threat to Ireland. We must remain vigilant in our approach to nuclear threats.

The Bill updates Ireland's existing arrangements for the management of radiological and nuclear risks, which are sorely needed given the technological changes and advances in radiological technology. The two main objectives of the Bill are, first, to move Ireland to a risk-based approach in the management of radiological technologies and, second, to complete the transfer of responsibilities for radiological protection and nuclear safety from the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Governmentto the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment.

The Radiological Protection (Amendment) Bill 2018 also provides a legal basis under the principal Act for the transposition into Irish law of certain articles in Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM. EURATOM is the main organisation in Europe for the management of nuclear energy, the development of better safety mechanisms and the research of nuclear technology.

On a related note, the decision by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union will greatly impact Ireland’s protection from nuclear disaster. Currently, the United Kingdom is subject to rigorous safety standards under EURATOM. These will cease to apply, however, when the United Kingdom leaves the European Union unless a separate agreement is negotiated, which I hope will be achieved. That is vital to the protection of Ireland’s interests. The big advantage for Ireland from a trade point of view is the fact that we are a nuclear free country. That has added greatly to the sale of our agriculture products around the world, particularly powdered baby milk from plants in Ireland where there is no threat from nuclear fallout, except the threat from across the water, which is always present.

Radiological technology is used in many everyday devices, for example, X-ray machines. This clearly needs to be managed, but it is also important to recognise the difference between very high-powered radiological technology. The current system of radiological control treats all radiological technology equally, something which has been deemed to be out of date and not fit for purpose by leading international experts on nuclear and radiological technologies. This Bill moves Ireland towards a graded or risk-based approach whereby lower risk technologies will simply have to be registered while higher risk activities will continue to require a licence. This approach has been recommended by the International Atomic Energy Agency integrated regulatory review service, and is in line with the EURATOM directive.

The Bill also completes the process of transferring responsibility for radiological-nuclear management from the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment. That technical amendment is vital as without that change, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment or the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government may be vulnerable to legal challenge in the course of consultation processes.

As the principal organisation with responsibility for nuclear safety standards and research in Europe, EURATOM is very important to the minimisation of the risks that nuclear energy in particular present to Ireland and the rest of Europe. Unless the United Kingdom commits to a separate agreement on this issue, EURATOM’s safety standards will cease to apply to the United Kingdom upon its departure from the European Union. Given that some of the United Kingdom’s nuclear power plants are located just 128 miles from Dublin, it is vital that this issue is addressed. Sadly, despite the Fianna Fáil spokesperson for communications repeatedly raising this issue with the Government in October of last year, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment has yet to raise it with his counterparts in the United Kingdom. If he has not done so already, it would be worthwhile if he was in communication with his opposite number in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, he does not have an opposite number in Northern Ireland because the Executive has not been set up, which is a major mistake because he would be working with the Northern Ireland Secretary with responsibility for that area. Fianna Fáil supports the Bill. We would like to see it enacted speedily and not delayed in this House.