Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 9 Jun 1993

Vol. 432 No. 1

Written Answers. - MMDS TV Transmissions.

Paul Bradford

Question:

192 Mr. Bradford asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if he has satisfied himself that the proposed MMDS system of multichannel television transmission is safe from a health point of view; and the tests and studies, if any, which have been undertaken on the matter.

Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications (Mr. Cowen)

The technical specification laid down by my Department for licensed MMDS systems require operators to comply with the safety guidelines laid down by the Non-Ionizing Radiation Committee — the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection since May 1992 — of the International Radiation Protection Association, IRPA, on the limits of exposure to radio frequency magnetic fields in the frequency range used by the operators.

The limits which have been established by the IRPA are limits within which it is safe to work and live on the basis of all expert knowledge. Furthermore these standards recognise that people can be exposed to all sorts of radio communications transmitter signals 24 hours per day over a whole lifetime. An independent assessment of the possible health impact of a transmitter outside Galway was carried out by the National Radiation Protection Board of the United Kingdom. This study established that the level of signal from the transmitter in the worst case scenario would be at least 230 times lower than the safe guideline limits established by the IRPA. Field tests carried out by the Department in respect of the same system confirmed that the exposure levels are in excess of thousands of time lower than the IRPA limits.

Recent surveys of radiation levels at an MMDS transmitter site in Cork carried out by a division of EOLAS confirmed that emissions from the MMDS transmitter were well inside the IRPA guidelines.

On the basis of all the expert advice available to me, I am satisfied that MMDS systems are safe from a health point of view.