I strongly agree with the Deputy that this issue needs to be internationalised. As Minister for the Environment, I repeatedly raised this matter at the European Council and at the European Conference on the Environment held in Sofia. It is not right to say we are a lone voice on this issue. I have tried to build allies among the latest European Union members. Austria is very concerned about nuclear power plants operating on its borders, particularly within the Czech Republic. This issue is an international one.
I am deeply concerned about the most recent data. It is simply an advanced brief on information to be presented to a conference to be held in Norway next month. Mr. Per Strand of the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority reported that the pattern of discharges from Sellafield shows peaks in discharges from Sellafield in 1975, 1977 and 1980. Each of those peaks was replicated four years later in the Barents Sea as the radioactive plume worked its way into northern waters. It is absolutely clear from the limited information available — I have arranged for the Government to be represented at the conference so that we will have the full data first hand — that the impact of Sellafield is not confined to the Irish Sea. I hope to build alliances that will continue to put pressure not only on the operation of Sellafield by British Nuclear Fuels Limited but on the entire British nuclear programme, which continues to pose an unacceptable risk to the health and well-being of the people of Ireland.