Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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1733. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on the recommendations of the two Oireachtas committee reports carried out on the health impacts of microwave radiation in the past; if his Department is monitoring the health and safety regulations on microwave radiation of other EU jurisdictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26654/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Both the Joint Committees on Public Enterprise and Transport, and on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources published reports on exposure to non-ionising radiation from mobile phone hand sets and telecommunication masts.  Both reports included recommendations ranging from the monitoring of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) to planning guidelines for telecommunication masts and mobile phone base stations.

To consider the issues raised by the committees, an Inter-Departmental Committee on Health Effects of Electromagnetic Fields was appointed by the Government in 2005. Consultations were held and as a result the Report of the Expert Group on the Health Effects of Electromagnetic Fields was published in March, 2007. The report informed the Department's policy on EMF and non-Ionising radiation, focusing primarily on the issue of public exposure and addressing recommendations made in earlier reports.

More recently, my Department commissioned the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands (RIVM) to produce a report titled "Electromagnetic Fields in the Irish Context", which was published in October, 2016. This report examined the most up to date peer-reviewed research on the possible health effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields and also examined how a sample of 5 other countries deal with the policy issue, including how these policies are implemented in practice.  The report confirmed earlier conclusions that no adverse short- or long-term effects have been shown to occur from exposure to electromagnetic fields at levels below the limits recommended by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).

The recommendations from the report also reaffirmed Ireland's approach on the issue on electromagnetic fields, which follows best practice in adopting  internationally recognised standards and guidelines for public exposure to electromagnetic radiation developed by the ICNIRP. The ICNIRP guidelines ensure adequate protection measures for the public from any EMF sources, limiting exposure from mobile phones and masts in addition to power line fields. For example, recommending that where possible new power lines should be sited away from heavily populated areas so as to minimise exposure. This precautionary policy is in line with the conclusions of EU Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) in its 2015 Opinion.

To promote on-going public confidence in measures to mitigate any potential health effects of non-ionising radiation, officials in my Department are developing proposals to better advise local and central Government, and other public bodies, on all appropriate non-ionising radiation issues, including advice on regulations and standards for the safe use of non-ionising radiation.