Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 204: To ask the Minister for Health and Children as she informed Dáil Éireann on 1 June 2006 that the iodine tablets distributed to each household here by her Department are useless against nuclear contamination arising from an accident at the Sellafield nuclear complex, if she will advise householders accordingly; if she will further advise on the environmentally safe disposal of the tablets; the alternative safety plans against nuclear contamination she will put in place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22626/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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Radioactive iodine is no longer produced at Sellafield and an accident at that installation would not result in a release of radioactive iodine. Therefore the use of iodine tablets as a counter measure in such an instance would not be indicated. However, there is still a potential risk from other nuclear installations in the U.K. and elsewhere.

In 2005 a Review Group established by my Department to examine the issue agreed that the use of stable iodine should continue as a counter measure under the National Emergency Plan for Nuclear Accidents and that the shelf-life of the tablets be extended to January 2009, subject to yearly monitoring. A public notice was placed in national newspapers advising that the tablets have maintained their efficacy and should continue to be stored in a cool, dry place in their original sealed packaging. The issue of the safe disposal of the tablets does not therefore arise.

In recent years the threat to Ireland has significantly reduced due to the closure of a number of the older reactors in the UK, in particular the Calder Hall reactors at Sellafield. A programme of further closures is planned. In the unlikely event of a nuclear incident, the health response would be in accordance with the National Emergency Plan for Nuclear Accidents produced by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.