asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he is aware that a Dutch tanker, the Stella Maris, is at present in the Atlantic Ocean for the purpose of dumping 600 tons of poisonous chemical waste; that the shipowners were prevented by the Norwegian and Danish Governments from dumping this poisonous waste into the North Sea; and that such dumping would cause a serious threat to this country's fishing industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter stating particularly when this matter was first brought to the attention of his Department.
Private Notice Question: - Dumping of Poisonous Chemical Waste.
I am aware of the circumstances concerning this proposed dumping of waste. We were naturally concerned about it and this concern was conveyed to the Netherlands authorities. However, it has now been established that the dumping represents no threat to this country's fishery interests.
The matter first came to the attention of my Department two days ago.
Is the Minister in a position to give the House a guarantee that this substance will not break down in time and give rise to products which may, in fact, be more poisonous than the original substance? What is the relationship between this compound which is specified as being dichlorethane and chlorine gas? As the Minister is well aware, chlorine gas is known to be highly dangerous. It was the gas used in gas warfare during the first world war. If the 600 tons of gas will not have an effect on fish, will it have an effect on the food the fish eat in the Atlantic Ocean?
Having to answer questions about dumping may look as though we are defending it but we look with disfavour on such dumping and wish that people would find some other way of disposing of their waste. The experts in the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries say that dichlorethane and hydrocarbons are mildly toxic and the degree of dilution necessary to make them non-toxic is not very great. This is being dumped in an area where the prevailing currents will take it away from Ireland so that the proposed dumping, according to the expert advice available to me, represents no danger to this country's fisheries. It is being dumped 1,000 kilometres west of Ireland at a depth of about 3,000 metres.
Why were other countries not prepared to allow this to be dumped in the North Sea?
Is the Minister not in a position to comment on the reasons why the Danish and Norwegian Governments prevented this dangerous substance from being dumped in the North Sea? A spokesman for the firm has admitted that this substance is being poured directly into the ocean and not in containers.
In reassuring the Deputy about the non-toxic nature of this substance——
Mildly toxic.
——when diluted at 3,000 metres and the fact that the currents will take it away and not towards Ireland, I do not intend to defend the practice of dumping in the ocean. It is very wrong and I look at it with great disfavour. We have made representations but we found it was not a threat to our fisheries. We have expressed our concern to the Netherlands Government through our own Ambassador and through their Ambassador in Dublin. If there was any way the Government could prevent this dumping from taking place, they would do so. I want to assure the House that all the technical information available to us suggests that it is non-toxic when diluted as sufficiently as it would be diluted at that depth and the currents are taking it away from our shores.
Would the Minister answer Deputy Enright's question as to why the Norwegian and Danish Governments would not allow it to be dumped in the North Sea?
That was my question.
I had to inquire what the position was about currents and about the proximity to their shores of the proposed dumping. We shall continue to object to any of this kind of dumping in the ocean.
(Cavan): In view of the fact that the other two countries apparently successfully prevented it from being dumped in their region, could the Minister not take similar action to prevent it from being dumped in our territories?
It is not in our territorial waters and it is not in any waters which endanger our fisheries.
Would the Minister not admit that putting it into metres does not make it any further away than the 600 miles——
500 miles.
It was 600 miles this morning.
The current is away. It is not in our waters and I do not know of any rules which could prevent it happening.
Is the Minister aware that press reports have stated that Norwegian marine biologists described the waste as a threat to rich fishing stocks in the North Sea?
I am reporting to the House the present position of our representations to the authorities. The information from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries is that there is no threat whatever to our fisheries but I intend to continue my investigations.
Is it dumped by now?
No, I do not think so.
The firm in question are able to get in touch directly with this particular ship. Is this country not in a position to ensure that this firm will prevent this substance from being poured in directly? If it were put in containers it would help. A formal protest seems to have very little result. It seems to be of little consequence because this substance is now being poured directly into the sea. Norwegian marine biologists have described it as a threat to their fish stocks in the North Sea. I am disappointed with the Minister. He could have done far more. He could have gone to the Council of Europe or the United Nations in regard to this particular matter.
The Deputy's disappointment must be based on the fact that we do not have control of the ocean 500 miles away. There is no threat to our fishing and there are no laws to have recourse to. I totally deplore this dumping and will continue to see what can be done about it.
Would the Minister do what Deputy Enright has asked and ask the firm to put the substance in containers instead of dumping it straight into the ocean?
I will certainly transmit that to the appropriate authorities but that is not to reduce in any way the assurance given by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries about the non-toxic nature of the substance in relation to fisheries.