I propose to take Questions Nos. 30, 32, 52, 54, 56 and 83 together.
The Government are convinced that it is in the interests of all that measures should be taken at Community level to ensure the observance of the highest standards of safety and operation of nuclear installations. We believe that the most effective way of achieving this is through the establishment of a European Community Inspection Force.
In April 1986 Ireland formally requested the European Commission to establish a Community Inspection Force under Chapter III of the Euratom Treaty to report to the Commission and to the member states on existing or potential health or safety problems in individual nuclear installations in the Community. This request was formally repeated in May 1986 following Chernobyl. In June of that year, the Commission's legal service met with representatives of the Attorney General's office. It was agreed at that meeting that the Community had the competence to take the initiative to set up an inspection force under the Euratom Treaty.
Ireland has proposed the establishment of an inspection force at Council level on numerous occasions, most recently at an Informal Energy Council on 21 September last where I drew attention to the Sellafield issue and again called for the establishment of an inspection force. I said that this would be necessary to ensure independently that uniformly high standards are applied at nuclear installations throughout the Community; that national regulatory authorities carry out their functions effectively and that any plants which cannot meet the highest safety standards are closed. I also called for support for an inspection force when I met recently with the European Community ambassadors to Ireland.
I met with Commissioner Stanley Clinton Davis on 7 May last to discuss this issue. In July, in response to the Commission's announcement of plans to resume inspection of national monitoring facilities, I again formally raised the question of an inspection force with Commissioner Clinton Davis saying that, while we welcomed their initiative on inspection of monitoring facilities, it did not prejudice our long-standing request for a nuclear safety inspection force.
I was heartened by the recent statement by Commissioner Clinton Davis in favour of an inspection force and calling on member states to support its establishment. In effect the commissioner stated what Ireland has been saying all along — that the Community provides the obvious legal and technical infrastructure for such a force.
The commissioner also said that objectivity was very hard to achieve where there are large special interests to be protected and that it was quite clear that national authorities and their nuclear operators have such special interests. I agree with these views and I feel that full collaboration between national authorities can only be achieved under the infrastructure of an external objective inspection force.
I had further discussions with the commissioner on 5 November. I reiterated that it was vitally important that the commissioner should take more constructive initiatives on nuclear accident prevention and said that he could expect the full support of the Irish Government. The commissioner took note of my concerns. He indicated that there was a moving forward on the question of inspections and he shared my wish to see faster progress. He said that he was considering what proposals he would bring forward.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and I are currently considering the best way to raise the issue of an inspection force at United Nations level. In all of my contacts at international level I have taken every opportunity to emphasise the unanimous policy of the Oireachtas on this issue. I welcome the initiatives taken by individual Deputies and MEPs in support of this policy. I am considering ways in which we could collaborate with maximum effect and I will bear in mind the suggestions of Deputies Quinn and O'Sullivan.
