Skip to main content
Normal View

Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 15 Feb 1996

Vol. 461 No. 6

Adjournment Debate. - Mobile Telephone Services.

I am the owner of a mobile phone which facilitates my everyday business. Like many other Deputies I am deeply concerned at the huge rash of planning applications which have been received in the local authority, of which I am a member, and in all other local authorities during the past five or six months. I have been trying to raise the issue since then when I tabled a parliamentary question to the Minister for Health.

I do not understand the reason we need more than one mobile phone transmission network. In the case of any other utility, for example, gas, electricity or water there is a single basic delivery system. The mobile phone network seems to be the only example where we must have two competing systems. At a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts today, Mr. John Loughrey, Secretary of the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications, agreed that there should be one network and that, perhaps, the Minister, Deputy Lowry, should have insisted, from the beginning, on one network for this facility. I accept the comments made by the Minister for the Environment, Deputy Howlin, last evening in relation to the planning authorities, but the creation of a national grid cannot be left to a number of planning authorities. It was not done with the ESB or with the other utilities.

Deep concerns have been expressed about exposure to microwave and electromagnetic radiation. The Bristol study released yesterday suggests a link between electromagnetic radiation and the attraction of radon in the substructure and cancer. We will have 600 high frequency electromagnetic transmission masts which will surely have similar effects through creating intense electromagnetic fields. If I had more time I could refer to American and Canadian experts who have expressed great concern on health grounds.

My constituency, which is one of the most beautiful in the country, stretches from Coolock to Howth. It has been defaced recently by the erection of these new transmission networks. The masts are unbelievably ugly; they are often up to 40 metres high and may be three by two by four metres in area. A pleasant suburban street in Sutton now has a mast dominating its skyline which looks like an alien craft. In Raheny, Donaghmede and in other areas on the north side of Dublin, applications are pending or have been approved for these horrendous structures and, indeed, some have been built. They are a form of environmental pollution. One of the applications before Dublin Corporation was for a site at Our Lady's Hospice and another is for a Christian Brothers School, which is unbelievable when one considers the consequences.

The Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications should call in Esat Telecom and Telecom Éireann and ask them to consider the possibility of creating a single transmission network. The Minister for the Environment could insist on this being implemented at local level through the planning authorities and the Minister for Health could closely monitor the resulting single network. The deregulation of important utilities under EU provisions carries with it significant consequences. This is the first time a totally new facility has come onto the market which needs a new nationwide transmission network. In the past it was taken for granted that there would be a single network and I see no reason there cannot be a single network in this case, if necessary independently operated and facilitating a number of competing users.

On environmental and health grounds the rash of applications for these monstrosities which are beginning to appear requires urgent action from the Minister, Deputy Howlin, and his colleagues.

I thank Deputy Broughan for raising this important issue. It has caused public concern and, in so far as it impacts on my Department, I will monitor it closely. The aim of the Government's telecommunications policy is to ensure Ireland's telecommunications systems rank among the best in the OECD countries as regards availability, price and quality of telecommunications services. This will help to promote industrial and commercial development and enhance social exchange and mobility in Ireland. The Government has announced its intention to issue a second licence for the provision of GSM or global systems for mobile telephone services. The two operators will be obliged to provide GSM coverage to 90 per cent of the population within four years.

The planning decisions regarding the installation of base stations and other equipment for mobile telephone systems are taken by the local planning authorities. Due to the anticipated growth in the number of communications masts and the need for a consistent approach by the various planning authorities, my Department in December last issued draft consultation guidelines in relation to the planning issues associated with mobile telephone systems.

The draft consultation guidelines were issued with a view to the widest possible circulation to interested parties and comments have been invited by the end of this month. All comments received will be considered in my Department before the guidelines issue in their final form. I am concerned to ensure the environmental impact of communications masts is as low as possible. It is estimated that up to 600 masts in total could be required. This figure could be reduced substantially if arrangements were made for mast sharing and I expect the operators to come forward with appropriate proposals. I accept that for technical reasons sharing may not always be possible but it has an important role to play. The Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, Deputy Lowry, has had direct discussions with the ESB, Telecom Éireann and Esat, and there is a large measure of agreement to share facilities. He and I will continue to promote this issue.

Concern has been expressed about ill health effects to which the non-ionising radiation associated with the telecommunications antennae can give rise. While any health issues arising are primarily matters for the Minister for Health, the draft consultation guidelines provide that operators, applying for planning permission, should be required to furnish evidence that the proposed installations comply with the guidelines of the International Radiological Protection Association or other internationally accepted standards. This is to ensure the use of best international practice. In deciding on the definitive guidelines, consideration will be given to monitoring arrangements to ensure installations are meeting the appropriate standards.

Concern has also been expressed about possible devaluation of property due to telecommunications masts. The planning and development Acts do not provide for the payment of compensation in such cases. Any question as to whether a claim to compensation or damages would arise is a matter for the general law and property owners who believe their property has been devalued have the option of seeking damages through the courts.

I repeat that full consideration will be given to all comments received by the end of this month from any interested parties on the contents of the final draft guidelines to be issued to local authorities and planning authorities in determining applications for such masts.

Top
Share