Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 25: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if the RPII has made a submission in relation to the strategy proposed by the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency in the UK for the Drigg radioactive waste disposal site in the UK. [36561/05]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 53: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the outcome of his meeting with the chairman, Sir Anthony Cleaver, the chief executive, Sir Ian Roxburgh, and the UK Ambassador, Mr. Stuart Eldon, to discuss the UK's new agency in charge of nuclear clean up, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36599/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 25 and 53 together.

I met Sir Anthony Cleaver, chairman, and Sir Ian Roxburgh, chief executive, of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, NDA, along with the UK Ambassador to Ireland, on 17 November 2005. The meeting reflected the improved co-operation arrangements currently in place between the UK and the Irish Governments in relation to nuclear safety issues.

The NDA was established by the UK Government in April 2005 to assume responsibility for the decommissioning and clean up of the UK nuclear waste legacy. It now has responsibility for the clean up and decommissioning of 20 nuclear sites in the United Kingdom, including Sellafield. It is required to operate in an open and transparent manner and consult with stakeholders. I am pleased that consultation processes between this new authority and Ireland are already well established and recognise Ireland as an important stakeholder in the work of the NDA.

A detailed briefing was provided to me in relation to the NDA mandate, work programme and strategies. In response, I emphasised that safe and environmentally friendly decommissioning of nuclear facilities and the proposals of NDA to deal with legacy waste hazards can in principle be welcomed by Ireland.

However, I emphasised Ireland's continuing concerns regarding the discharge of radioactive waste to the Irish Sea and advised that decommissioning operations must not result in radioactive discharges to the marine environment. I also raised concerns in relation to a number of other issues which are currently the responsibility of and under deliberation by the NDA. These issues included our significant safety concerns in relation to the operation of the THORP plant following the leak in April 2005, the need for the UK Government to end reprocessing, future plans by the authority in relation to plutonium stocks held at Sellafield, ensuring that safety standards are not compromised in any way by efficiency drives or the use of contractors, and the concerns in relation to threats posed by rising sea levels and coastal erosion to the radioactive waste disposal facility at Drigg in the UK. These concerns, including those relating to Drigg, are also the subject of a submission by my Department, based on the expert advice provided by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, to the extensive consultation processes established by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

My meeting with the Ambassador and the NDA representatives produced a valuable exchange of views. While the perspectives of the Irish and UK Governments are markedly different in relation to nuclear issues and remain so, I believe the significant diplomatic and legal initiatives taken by this Government have raised the awareness of the UK Government to Irish concerns. My Department, with the benefit of expert advice from the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, will remain fully engaged with the operation of the NDA through the extensive consultation processes provided and will utilise such processes where it is considered Ireland's interests may or will be affected.