Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will try to answer as many of the questions raised as possible. First, I thank the Senators for their contributions and constructive input to the debate. As I said earlier, the Bill primarily effects the transfer of radiological functions from the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, as directed by the Government decision when the Department was established. Additionally, the risk-based graded approach to regulation, underpinned by the provisions in the Bill, will provide for a simpler, less costly and less administratively burdensome regulatory framework for both the regulator and practitioners engaged in activities involving radiation sources. The Bill further deals with technical issues to provide a legal basis for Ireland to fulfil its international obligations to ensure robust and reliable regulatory oversight of radiation sources in Ireland.

As regards the issues raised, I will first refer to the regulations regarding radon barriers. The building regulations date back to 1998 and all new houses built since 1998 have a radon barrier. That is the legal situation. Every house that was constructed since 1998 should have a radon barrier in place. The provision under conveyancing is not provided for in legislation.It is in the Law Society's guidelines so there is pretty much a standard procedure in that regard. It identifies this is an issue in circumstances where a property is being sold or transferred. It is identified and flagged at that stage.

That neatly leads me to the issue of the pilot scheme. My intention was to bring forward, as part of this legislation, a provision to introduce a scheme for the retrofitting of homes to deal with radon gas. The Department was established two years ago and the legislation is only coming forward now. For the past 12 months, it was my intention to have, when the legislation came forward, a specific provision to put in place a scheme to retrofit homes to deal with radon gas. The problem, however, is that this is already in primary legislation and the only way I can bring forward a scheme is to have it on a statutory basis. Moreover, the existing legislation must be repealed and an actual scheme must be put in place. The difficulty with the current primary legislation is that it is not fit for purpose in practical terms. To try to overcome this challenge, we decided to have a pilot initiative and, based on that, draft the primary legislation allowing us to roll out the scheme across the country. My intention, as Minister, is to have a national scheme.

The areas covered by the pilot are counties Roscommon and Galway. We have picked 1,400 houses in the region. The reason we picked these locations is that they contain areas with very high radon levels and others with very low levels. Rather than having the contractors involved in doing the work travelling the length and breadth of the country and spending more money on travel than retrofitting houses, and because we want this turned around quite quickly, we allocated a sum of €75,000 to test in areas with high, low and medium levels of radon. The objective is to examine the test take-up rate, costs, challenges and barriers. All 1,400 homeowners have been written to at this stage. The pilot covers Tuam in the north, Loughrea in the south and the area as far as Ballinasloe and up to Castlerea. On foot of that, the objective is to come forward with the amending legislation to roll out a national scheme.

That number of homes - 1,400 - is only the tip of the iceberg in counties Roscommon and Galway, where there are problems. County Mayo has a particular problem and west Galway has a considerable problem. Since the radon map was first published a number of years ago, I have raised this matter. I am determined to introduce a scheme for the entire country in order that we can actively encourage people to have the test carried out and participate in the scheme to carry out the remedial works required. I understand the costs will not be very prohibitive. Let us see what comes back from the pilot initiative. I hope that, with the agreement of both Houses, we can pass the legislation quite quickly. That is what I am determined to do. The reason for this is that, every week, five to six people are diagnosed with lung cancer as a direct result of exposure to radon gas. That is just not good enough. Radon is the main cause of lung cancer deaths after smoking. I, for one, am very concerned about this and I am very anxious to see it addressed.

In Northern Ireland, a decision to host a geological disposal facility would be a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive, taking into account planning and environmental considerations. According to the report by the UK Government, the functions relating to the management of radioactive waste in the United Kingdom are devolved from the UK Government to the devolved Administrations. In addition to an area having the right geology, community acceptance is also required. Previously, a site identified in Cumbria in England was rejected because it did not have the support of the local council. In the context of Northern Ireland, therefore, the Northern Executive would have a role in this regard. The UK report notes that such a decision would be 15 to 20 years away. Therefore, any such decision is a long way away but the Northern Ireland Executive will have a direct role in this regard. It is written into the UK procedures that there must be local support. This will be determined by the people in Northern Ireland for the people of Northern Ireland.

Members referred to Brexit, the United Kingdom and what will happen after the latter leaves the European Union. As members know, the United Kingdom has formally notified the European Union of its intention to exit from the terms of the EURATOM Treaty in addition to leaving the European Union. The United Kingdom, however, remains a member of EURATOM and the UK nuclear industry remains subject to oversight by EU institutions. It is likely that the UK will remain subject to that oversight during any transition phase, which is projected to last for two years following the exit in March of next year. Post Brexit, the United Kingdom will continue to be a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency. In fact, the chief executive of the agency was here with me last week or the week before. The agency establishes and monitors adherence to standards and nuclear safety, security and safeguards. Therefore, in respect of the various conventions, partnerships, agreements and intergovernmental treaties under the auspices of the agency, Ireland will continue to play a role in directly analysing and peer reviewing UK nuclear safety procedures to ensure the United Kingdom meets its international obligations. I have exchanged correspondence with UK Minister Richard Harrington, the undersecretary for industry, on the future relationship between the United Kingdom and Ireland after Brexit. The United Kingdom is committed to ensuring that nuclear safeguards under the direction and supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency will continue after Brexit.

With regard to Sellafield, there are a number of significant hazards at the site. These are recognised by industry, its regulators and the Irish authorities. Sellafield has the largest inventory of radioactive waste in Europe, some of which is stored in ageing facilities. The circumstances are acknowledged by the UK authorities as requiring active hazard-reduction programmes. In light of long-standing concerns about the potential for an incident at Sellafield to affect Ireland, the Government commissioned a team of international nuclear experts to undertake a probabilistic risk assessment, PRA, of Sellafield. This assessment considered a wide range of events, including operator error, earthquakes, fires, floods, meteorite strikes and terrorist attacks. The assessments included incidents caused by internal events, such as a fire within the facility. The PRA found that while internal events such as a fire could lead to significant releases within the site and surrounding area and the potential for injuries and deaths among site personnel, they would not lead to significant contamination reaching Ireland. The PRA also considered more severe external events, such as a meteorite or aircraft crashing into a facility and causing the dispersion of radioactive material into the atmosphere. The assessment concluded that such events would not lead to contamination levels in Ireland high enough to cause observable health effects here but would require the introduction of food-related and agricultural protective actions in Ireland, causing significant socioeconomic impacts.

Ireland has in place a national emergency plan for nuclear accidents. It is designed to deal with the consequences of such events and includes arrangements for the introduction of appropriate preventive protective actions for people and the food chain. At Government level, there is a formal agreement between the United Kingdom and Ireland for early provision of information in the event of a nuclear accident. There are also regular meetings of officials from both Governments to discuss nuclear issues. At technical level, the EPA meets at least annually with the UK nuclear regulators, the Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency, and maintains regular contact with them in case of incidents or other developments of interest at nuclear sites in the United Kingdom.There is a standing agenda item on nuclear power plants, both Sellafield and new nuclear plants, at the twice yearly meeting of the UK and Ireland contact group on radiological matters. We get an ongoing update on the issue at those twice yearly meetings.

On Senator Colm Burke's point about transport by air or sea, transport of radiological material is subject to licence under the Radiological Protection Act 1991. Council Directive 2011/70/EURATOM sets out the safety requirements for radioactive waste. Council Directive 2006/117/EURATOM sets out the legislative framework for transport of sources of radiation by sea and by air.