Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 5 Nov 1991

Vol. 412 No. 1

Written Answers. - Cork MMDS Tower.

Eamon Gilmore

Question:

27 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications the reason approval has been given for a height of 70 feet for the MMDS tower at Cork, which is 30 feet lower than the tower heights which are recommended for reasons of public safety in his Department booklet, MMDS - The dawn of a new era in television reception.

Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications (Mr. S. Brennan)

This is primarily a planning matter. The booklet published by my Department is intended as a guide to MMDS for the general public. The references to tower heights in the booklet are generalisations rather than specifications. My Department expect most MMDS operators to maximise coverage from their transmitters by siting them as high as possible.

The technical conditions to which MMDS operators must adhere do not specify a minimum height. Transmitter antenna heights are limited to those heights necessary to give adequate coverage of the area within range of the transmitter. Operators are also required to adhere to guidelines laid down by the international non-ionising radiation committee of the International Radiation Protection Association — IRPA — on the limits to exposure to radio frequency magnetic fields in the frequency range 100 kilohertz to 300 gigahertz. A tower height of 70 feet would not necessarily conflict with the requirements to observe IRPA guidelines.

I understand that the operator concerned commissioned an independent study of the levels of radio frequency radiation which would be emitted from the installation in question. The study has shown that even when making very pessimistic assumptions, the maximum level of exposure of humans is over 100 times lower than the levels considered safe by the IRPA. I understand that the study has been made available to Cork County Council. Planning permission for the tower was given by the county council and an appeal to An Bord Pleanála against the permission was rejected.