I wish to share my time with Deputy Stagg.
Adjournment Debate. - Case Against BNFL.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
Last week the Government accepted a motion to urgently support the legal case of the County Louth residents' group against BNFL through the provision of the necessary financial assistance towards research and legal costs, as well as appropriate technical expertise and information. Accepting the motion the Minister of State undertook to meet the residents. That meeting has not taken place and the arrangements for a meeting which was due to be held this evening were cancelled by the Minister of State who refused to agree to allow the STAD group to take a verbatim record of the meeting.
Not true.
A letter from the group's legal representatives sent to the Minister this morning states:
It was confirmed to us last evening by [an identified official] that you would not be prepared to proceed with the meeting scheduled for 5 p.m. today if our clients had in attendance a note-taker. Our clients do not accept the stated reason that it was a matter of protocol having regard to the fact that the previous meeting of 6th October was in the presence of a note-taker.
It is an interesting comment on the collapse of the trust between the STAD group and the Government that it feels it is necessary to have a stenographer present at the meeting.
The Government communicated by letter with the group this evening and, no doubt, the Minister of State will put much of that letter on the record in his reply. The letter represents yet another change in the Government's position on this issue. Indeed its position changes so often that its policy on Sellafield has gone into a spin. The response sees the Government distancing itself from the residents' case. It is putting responsibility back on them. The letter states: " . any State assistance which would be offered to them would be in the context of their responsibility to pursue the case." There is no sense in the letter that the case is being taken on behalf of the people.
It is a case of the Government telling the residents that it will provide them with £350,000 and wishing them good luck with the case while it pulls out. There is no evidence in the letter that the Government believes in the case or that the case has any validity. Regrettably, the opposite appears to be the case. The research proposals put forward by the residents' group are rubbished, although the previous Government had agreed to accept the research proposals put forward.
There is no question of them being rubbished.
Which of them will be funded? No commitment has been given in the letter sent this evening that a specific proposal will be funded. No provision is made for legal costs, although the motion in the House explicitly included that aspect.
BNFL must be delighted that it has a Government which is only half-hearted in its opposition to Sellafield and which fails to give the support to which the STAD group is entitled. It is in contrast to the anti-Sellafield rhetoric we heard last month from the former Minister for Foreign Affairs at the UN. The Government has refused to stand up and be counted when asked to do so. It is a case of being Mighty Mouse at the UN and miser mouse when it comes to supporting the County Louth residents.
I thank Deputy Gilmore for sharing his time. I support the points he has made. This is an unbelievable and bizarre state of affairs. There has been a series of U-turns on the issue of funding the Dundalk residents. First we had the Fianna Fáil election manifesto, which stated that full funding would be provided; then there was the first offer, which was supposed to be a full and final settlement; then the Taoiseach said in the House he would provide full funding; and today the Minister of State made a slightly improved offer in a fax to the group. The Minister has effectively undermined the case against British Nuclear Fuels and Sellafield and we now see a demand for secret meetings of which no reporting will be allowed.
I demand that we stop messing about on this issue. The main Government party has made a clear commitment and I demand that the Minister of State use his influence with his senior colleagues to see that this commitment is met in full. I ask him to meet the residents and to allow a note taker if that is their wish. The Government should meet its obligations in this matter and fully fund the case, as was clearly promised before the election.
I am grateful to Deputy Gilmore and Deputy Stagg for raising this matter as it gives me the opportunity to discuss it and to clarify to the House the present position — it appears this needs to be done. The House is aware, from the discussions last week on the Private Members' motion tabled by Deputy John Bruton and Deputy Yates, that I offered to meet the County Louth residents in the near future to discuss the Government's revised offer of financial assistance and other support. I have been in constant contact with the residents since last week and I offered to meet them today to discuss the enhanced proposals which the Government has authorised me to offer them.
We had mutually agreed the format for the meeting. I had in addition recommended that an official report of our meeting be drawn up so that there would be clarity about the scope of the Government's proposals and the conclusions to emerge following the residents' response to them. Any amendments proposed by the residents to the official report would form part of an agreed record of the meeting. It was my intention that these arrangements would allay the residents' concerns about any misinterpretation of positions or doubts in relation to the Government's offer of assistance. I also hoped my suggestion of agreed reporting would foster a spirit of co-operation which the Government and I are anxious to encourage.
I was disappointed that the residents insisted on having a stenographer present to produce a verbatim record of the meeting. I had hoped we would be in a position to proceed on the basis of co-operation and mutual trust and be able to agree, together, the record of our meeting. I have no objection to the residents making their own notes of any of our meetings and of course I would expect it. Reluctantly, I accepted the presence of a stenographer at our first meeting. At the beginning of that meeting I expressed my aversion to having a stenographer present and I gave my reasons for that. However, I wanted the meeting to continue, which is why I accepted it. I believed then and still do that this is not the normal way to conduct business between the residents and myself. I am sure the two former Ministers who have just spoken would also take that view. It would not be the conventional approach to a Minister's meeting with representative groups. Despite my best efforts, the residents declined the agreed reporting approach which I hoped would remove any risk of misunderstanding.
I want to be helpful to the residents and I want this matter to progress as quickly as possible. The residents have indicated that they would be equally happy to receive the Government's enhanced offer of assistance in writing. This afternoon, therefore, I issued a detailed letter to the residents setting out the scope and level of assistance which the Government now proposes. I intend to treat these proposals as confidential and will continue to do so until my communications with the residents enable me to comment further. I hope to hear from them as soon as they have had time to consider this offer.
I hope they will be in a position to accept the enhanced offer. I am prepared, at any stage, to discuss the matter further with them and to answer and clarify any questions they may have. I will endeavour to ensure that there will be no unnecessary delays and prompt responses will issue to any queries that I receive from the residents.
Naturally, I would have preferred to have discussed these matters face to face with the residents and I am sorry that it was not possible to do so this time. I hope to build a good working relationship with the residents and I sincerely wish to put this matter behind us. I want us to move forward together in a spirit of co-operation and mutual trust.