Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 137: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her plans to conduct a safety audit of WiFi in schools in view of the concerns regarding the wireless connectivity that are emerging in other countries; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21831/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Government published the Report of the Expert Group on Health Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) on 22nd March, 2007, which examined a wide range of issues in relation to potential health effects of EMF, including those produced by mobile telecommunications. The Expert Group was chaired by Dr Michael Repacholi, former Coordinator, Radiation and Environmental Health Unit, World Health Organisation. The Group concluded that so far, no adverse short or long-term health effects have been found from exposure to the radio frequency signals produced by mobile phones and base station transmitters and that radio frequency signals have not been found to cause cancer.

While I am aware of some media attention on the question of health effects associated with wireless local area networks in schools in the national media and in the UK, the UK Health Protection Agency has similarly concluded that on the basis of current evidence, it does not consider there to be a problem with the safety of wireless local area networks.

The latest data available on the types of networks used by schools is contained in the 2005 Census on ICT infrastructure in schools undertaken by the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE). The Census found that 3% of primary schools, 1.4% of post-primary and 2% of special schools used a wireless link only, while 7.2% of primary, 16.3% of post-primary and 8.8% of special schools used a combination of fixed and wireless networks. I am aware that many schools have availed of the grants provided by my Department since December, 2004 to schools to develop their internal networking capability. The NCTE drew up guidelines on Computer Networking in Schools which set out the requirements to be met by schools in relation to the expenditure of these grants. While these grants may, in some instances, have been expended on wireless networks, the NCTE observed in its guidelines that in general, wired networking should be used noting that wired networks can, in many situations, be more reliable than wireless networks.

I would also mention that since 2004, all school building projects are required to comply with my Department's ICT Infrastructure Guidelines for Schools which involve complete cabling installation. These Guidelines acknowledge that in some existing schools it may not be possible to install a complete cabling installation, e.g. in listed buildings, larger schools with limited distribution zones or existing remote buildings. In these cases, the Guidelines allow the use of a wireless Ethernet to be considered as a component of an overall structured cabling infrastructure.

As the Deputy may be aware, the Government has transferred responsibility for the health effects of EMF to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Minister will be bringing details of the broader mandate for the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland to the Cabinet for approval. The Government has also agreed to establish a national research programme to undertake further research in Ireland on the health effects of exposure to EMF and I will be liaising with my colleagues to ensure that my Department is kept appraised of any developments in relation to the health effects of wireless local area networks.