Gay Mitchell (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 570: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if, in view of earthquakes and tsunamis in Europe, with widespread implications for many European countries, including Ireland, and in view of the recorded earth tremor which occurred in the Irish Sea off Bray Head on 14 December 2005, the tremor felt in Dublin in 1984 and the tremor of 1951, he is satisfied that sufficient warning and reaction plans are in place should future and heavier tremors strike; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40326/05]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland at present has the scientific capability, through the seismic network managed by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, to record seismic events which affect the country. However by its nature a seismic network cannot predict the timing and location of future earthquakes and there is no effective technology available at present to do this. Ireland has low levels of seismicity and the earthquakes it has experienced in recent centuries have been relatively minor.

Tsunami-generating earthquakes have been known in the North Atlantic region beyond Ireland, as have tsunamis generated from submarine landslides, but there is a low-probability threat to Ireland from such events. The Geological Survey of Ireland is co-ordinating a national initiative to develop a proposal for an early warning system within international frameworks.