asked the Minister for Defence if he is satisfied with the present system of Civil Defence in the event of a nuclear fallout and/or leak; and if he will give a detailed account of the resources available in his Department to avert this type of situation.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Civil Defence.
23.
My Department's policy for the protection of the population from the effects of radioactive fall-out in the event of nuclear war is based on the concept of domestic refuge rooms prepared by householders themselves and on the ability of the Civil Defence organisation to predict and monitor radioactivity and to warn and advise the public in relation to it.
From the levels of radiation which might reasonably be expected in this country, the mere fact of staying indoors, in itself, provides a significant protection and this protection factor can be very substantially increased by carrying out simple protective measures. Advice to the public in this regard is contained in my Department's booklet, Bas/Beatha, which is available free of charge.
Arrangements for detecting, measuring and predicting radioactivity and advising the public in relation to this have been set up. National, regional and county control centres provide a comprehensive infrastructure for a national warning and monitoring network and the warden service of Civil Defence is equipped with and is trained in the use of radiation dose rate meters capable of detecting levels of radiation over a range from the very high — such as might be expected to result from a nuclear war — right down to levels far below those which would merit concern.
The Civil Defence organisation, in which the vast majority of personnel are volunteers, have an aggregate strength in the region of 40,000 and the active strength is about half that number. For a fall-out situation the required national strength is 4,000 approximately and I am satisfied that requirement is met and that such personnel are adequately equipped and trained.
In relation to any radioactivity-linked peacetime incident, my Department maintain liaison with the Department of Energy who have primary responsibility in this regard.
I will have more to say on the matter of Civil Defence preparedness when the 1986 Estimate for Defence is presented to the Dáil for consideration in the near future.
Can the Minister of State tell us what is the co-ordination structure in the event of a nuclear fall-out? What is the liaison or system of communication between the regional Civil Defence officers, county Civil Defence officers, the Civil Defence headquarters, the Nuclear Energy Board, the Department of the Environment and others? Are there annual, biannual or quarterly meetings and what is the system of communication or co-operation operated by the Minister's Department?
The monitoring network consists of the Department of Defence personnel, the Army Observer Corps, which is being expanded this year, elements of the Garda Síochána, the Meteorological Service, Irish Lights, RTE, certain local authority personnel and volunteer personnel of the Civil Defence warden service, which includes radiation protection, national, regional and county control centres with communications links and a broadcasting facility under national control. Its equipment includes radiation measurement instruments. The network is tested about once a year, through the national fall-out exercise, which has performed well in the course of these tests. I have been on one of them. They are very effective and operate right across the whole country in a very effective way. In my view the overall service is well organised and very effective.
In view of the fact that the Minister's Estimate for 1986 is 2 per cent less than last year, can he tell us what plans he has in his Department for the purchase of training and other equipment in this and in subsequent years? Is the Minister aware that, for the forthcoming all-Ireland Civil Defence finals, there are counties in which there is one unit only of Civil Defence, that there are several counties in which there is no unit of Civil Defence and what action does he propose to take to ensure that there are adequate Civil Defence units in every part of every county?
That is the intention. It is done on a regional and county basis. As the Deputy will be aware, local authorities play a major role in this. Some local authorities are more effective at organising than others. I want to assure the Deputy and the House that we ensure at all times that we establish a well-knit Civil Defence organisation throughout the country. That is done through my Department, my officials, in liaison with the Department of Defence, who operate it very effectively. I know there are some areas in which the position is not as satisfactory as in others. It should be remembered that this is a voluntary service and that it must be done by way of example. I am satisfied that the will and enthusiasm exist. I should say that while there are 40,000 members in the voluntary service, 20,000 of them are active. That is a sizeable number of people operating on the ground on a voluntary basis. It is something of which we should be very proud, that we have such numbers of people coming forward and acting in such a very responsible manner.
I take the point the Deputy is making I want to assure him that we are always seeking ways of improving the service, particularly through the local authority system.
In view of the fact that the Chernobyl nuclear base is located over 1,500 miles from us but affected this country and that the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant is located less than 100 miles away, would the Minister of State request the Taoiseach and the Minister for Defence, at the Cabinet table, to make a unanimous request to the British Government to close down the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant?
That is something that will be before the House this evening. That is anticipating a debate this evening.
That is before the Minister at present.
A Cheann Comhairle, might I carry forward Questions Nos. 26 and 27 to be nominated for priority?
Yes, Deputy. That concludes Question Time.
With your permission, A Cheann Comhairle, I should like to raise on the Adjournment this evening the Bord Gáis Eireann recent advertisement in which Dundalk has been dropped from their list of potential towns for supply.
I will communicate with the Deputy.