asked the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry if he has discussed with his British counterpart the effects of the dumping of nuclear waste on fish stocks.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Nuclear Waste Dumping.
14.
I presume that the Deputy is referring to the discharge of radioactive wastes into the Irish Sea from the nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at Sellafield. The Deputy is no doubt aware that during the Anglo-Irish Summit meeting last November the Tánaiste expressed the Government's concern in relation to this matter.
The Minister of State at the Department of Energy has also sought a meeting with the British Secretary of State for the Environment to discuss fully our concern about the effects of the Sellafield operation.
I have not had discussions with the British Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in the matter and in the circumstances referred to earlier I do not propose to take further action at this stage.
Is the Minister satisfied that adequate studies on nuclear radiation on marine life have been carried out in this country? What studies have been carried out?
The Nuclear Energy Board, with the parent body, the Department of Energy, have statutory responsibility for these matters, including the disposal of low level radioactive waste generated in this country and the monitoring of waste in both fish and the seas around our coast. That is an ongoing process and is done through continuous contact with the United Kingdom authority responsible for nuclear matters generally. As I said, there is ongoing monitoring of the level of nuclear waste and the effects it is having. In relation to my own Department, we do not have the scientific expertise to assess the effects resulting from a discharge of nuclear waste. This is being done by the body with statutory responsibility for it.
Which bodies?
The Nuclear Energy Board under the aegis of the Department of Energy, have responsibility for the protection of the marine environment. The Department of the Environment are responsible for pollution from land based sources. The Department of Communications are responsible for dumping at sea. As an example of the difference between the disparity of responsibility here and that in Britain, all this responsibility comes under the aegis of the British Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Would the Minister agree that there is a long overdue need for a co-ordinated approach to this problem and that there should be a central body within one Department to take responsibility for this problem?
As the Deputy is aware, this matter has been raised on a number of occasions in recent years because of the expansion of the use of nuclear energy. I am sure the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Energy Board are aware of the difficulties that exist and they will be advising on the best approach to this problem, but I do not know if they will eventually come around to recommending a central agency dealing with this in toto.