Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 22: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the status of the Government's campaign to close Sellafield; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36633/06]

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 84: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has devised another strategy for pursuing the MOX case as previously promised in Dáil Éireann. [36449/06]

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 126: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the present position in relation to legal cases been taken against the UK nuclear industry by the Government of Ireland. [36451/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 22, 84 and 126 together.

I refer to the reply to Question No. 56 of 13 June 2006 regarding the European Court of Justice Judgment of May 2006.

Ireland's international legal team, led by the Attorney General, continues to examine this complex judgment with a view to adapting Ireland's strategy in relation to Sellafield. The Irish authorities have also written to the European Commission on 18 October to seek a high level meeting with the Commission which would clarify the elements of the dispute falling within and outside the ECJ's jurisdiction. A response from the Commission is currently awaited.

On the diplomatic front, I will be meeting Mr. Alistair Darling MP, UK Secretary of State at the Department of Trade and Industry in London on 9 January next to voice the continuing concerns of the Irish Government in relation to the operation of the Sellafield Plant. Similarly, I also hope to meet Mr. David Miliband, UK Secretary of State at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs while I am in London.

This Government will continue to pursue all legal, political and diplomatic options to secure the safe and orderly closure of the Sellafield facility. I consider that the current legal and ongoing diplomatic initiatives by the Irish Government in relation to Sellafield have resulted in increasing recognition by the UK Government and its Departments and Agencies of the depth of Ireland's concerns about Sellafield and of the priority accorded to the issue of Sellafield by the Irish Government.