Damien English (Meath, Fine Gael)
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Question 33: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if Ireland will have any representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency's uranium symposium to be held in June 2005; his Department's policy on the issues raised at the symposium, including exploration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22274/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The International Symposium on Uranium Production and Raw Materials for the Nuclear Fuel Cycle, organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency, took place in Vienna last week. My Department, in consultation with the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland and based on an evaluation of priorities, decided not to nominate an official representative to the uranium symposium.

The purpose of the symposium was to analyse uranium supply and demand relationships and to present and discuss new developments in uranium geology and exploration, mining, processing and environmental requirements for uranium operations and site decommissioning. The symposium followed on from an international conference Uranium Geochemistry 2003 in Nancy in 2003 and an earlier symposium Uranium Production Cycle and the Environment in Vienna in 2000, both of which were also organised by the agency. Although Ireland was not represented at the symposium, we will, of course, have access to the outcomes of the symposium when these are available.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, comprising some 136 member states is an independent, intergovernmental agency of the United Nations. The agency is inter alia responsible for the establishment and administration of safeguards and verification, the maintenance of a global event notification system, the promotion of research and development into the application of atomic energy, the establishment of safety standards and the assistance of member states in planning for and using nuclear science and technology for various peaceful purposes.

To this end, the agency organises numerous conferences and symposia in any given year. Furthermore, the policy-making organs — board of governors, programme and budget committee and so forth — typically meet ten to 12 times a year and the annual general conference takes place each September. My Department or the institute does not have the resources to attend all of these meetings and conferences and, consequently, has to be selective in terms of accepting invitations that will most directly assist and promote Ireland's nuclear policy and provide necessary technical advice and assistance.

Government policy is opposed to the use of nuclear energy, as it believes the environmental, health and safety risks and impacts outweigh the benefits arising from the industry. Ireland remains opposed to any expansion of the nuclear industry, which potentially impacts negatively on uranium exploration, production and related issues. Based on an analysis of the content and relevance of international meetings, Ireland is represented at as many as possible and seeks to influence processes in accordance with Government policy.