Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 173: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if her attention has been drawn to any health hazard presented by 3G mobile masts; if she has been consulted by the Minister for Finance regarding the erection of such masts on Government owned property; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9319/05]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 174: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if her Department has carried out research or acquired information regarding health risks attached to working in a building on which a 3G mobile phone mast has been erected particularly in the context of a decision to allow these masts on Government buildings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9337/05]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 173 and 174 together.

The erection of masts on Government property is a matter for the Minister for Finance together with the public sector organisation which is the direct owner of the property concerned. There is no scientific medical evidence that mobile telephone masts, which include 3G mobile phone masts, are injurious to health. Over recent years, more than 25,000 peer-reviewed studies into possible health effects of non-ionising radiation, the class of electromagnetic emissions associated with mobile phone technology, have been published. No definite causal link has been proven between the emissions and any adverse health effect.

Notwithstanding the overwhelmingly clean bill of health given to these technologies compared to other environmental risks which our society willingly accepts, many countries, including Ireland, have adopted a precautionary approach of absence of proof of harm is not proof of absence of harm. By consensus among many countries, guidelines are established for safe levels of exposure to various kinds of electromagnetic emissions. These guidelines are set at levels which are many times less than the experimental levels at which no adverse effects have been established. Ireland has adopted the guidelines established by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection, ICNIRP, and participates in the work of the international committee on electromagnetic safety, which sets standards in this area.

All licensed telecommunications operators in Ireland are required by the terms of their licences to observe the ICNIRP guidelines for limiting exposure of the public to electromagnetic emissions from their facilities. The Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, the regulator, conducts audit measurements to verify compliance with these limits. Ireland maintains continuous relevant activity to ensure that public authorities have access to the most up-to-date and relevant information in this area and steps have been taken to ensure that these masts operate within limits which respected international bodies have deemed to provide protection for the public. The siting of individual mobile phone masts is a matter for the relevant planning authorities and my Department has no function in this matter.

The Deputies should be aware that the latest statistics from the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, indicate that the Irish mobile penetration rate now stands at 94%.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 175: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources his views on an anomaly in the planning and development regulations 2001, whereby mobile phone base stations may not be installed on educational facilities, child care facilities or hospitals without planning permission, but may be installed on public or commercial buildings directly adjacent to such facilities without any planning permission; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that this is inconsistent not only with the latest recommendations of the UK independent expert group on mobile phones, but with his own advice to Dáil Éireann in 2004 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9545/05]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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The drafting of planning and development regulations is a matter for the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government. I am not aware of any national or international health advisory authority which has recommended that the siting of telecommunications masts should result in no direct beam falling on school property. It may be that some paper somewhere may have made such a recommendation and if the Deputy can identify any such work I shall have my experts study it and I will make a further statement.

If any of the relevant international bodies to which Ireland belongs were to make such a recommendation, my Department would have to consider an appropriate response. However, to date, no such recommendation has been made. This is because, in the continuing opinion of all the relevant international bodies, radiofrequency fields around such masts are not considered a health risk.

The siting of individual mobile phone masts is a matter for the relevant planning authorities and my Department has no function in the matter. I acknowledge that real fears exist amongst certain parts of the community about the health impacts of these masts. I am sympathetic and understanding of these fears and the concerns that underpin them. However, I must point out that I have no scientific data which as yet supports the contention that these masts damage human health. Our policy is to abide by the internationally accepted scientific guidelines that specify maximum acceptable levels of radiation.

The Deputy may be aware that the latest statistics from the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, indicate that the Irish mobile penetration rate now stands at 94%.