asked the Minister for Energy the reason the development of an emergency plan has taken so long; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteann—Questions. Oral Answers. - Nuclear Accident Emergency Plan.
37.
The preparation by an interdepartmental committee of an emergency plan to deal with the effects of a nuclear accident has been completed and the plan has been submitted to me for consideration. In such an important matter as this, it was considered advisable to allow the committee time to finalise the plan taking into account all relevant matters.
Furthermore, as the success of the plan will depend on the availability of funds for the purchase of additional equipment identified by the committee as essential to the plan, I sought and obtained Government approval for the inclusion of £250,000 in this year's Estimates for the first phase of expenditure on this equipment.
As I indicated in a reply to a previous question from the Deputy, some important elements of the plan have been put into place already such as extra office and laboratory resources for the Nuclear Energy Board, monitoring equipment for the Civil Defence, communications links with the International Atomic Energy Agency and arrangements for the urgent calling together of key personnel.
I will be publishing details of the national emergency plan shortly and I will welcome comments from all public representatives on the matter.
May I ask the Minister if he agrees with the newspaper reports published last Sunday that we would be defenceless in the face of a problem at one of the nuclear plants in Wales because of the lack of an early warning system? Can I further ask him whether his plan will involve the consideration of a number of possible contingency sources of nuclear radiation such as the submarine at sea, as well as the traditional concern with the British plants in Wales.
I do not agree with the article which was published last Sunday. So far as the plan is concerned, the Deputy will have the opportunity of looking at it in detail when it is published very shortly.
May I ask the Minister when we will have an early warning system to give us the possibility of responding to an accident if it should occur.
The Deputy will see the plan very shortly.
I did not ask when I would see the plan; I asked when I would see an early warning system.
Part of the £250,000 funds which the Minister for Finance and the Government made available to me this year will be used for an early warning system.