Vol. 488 No. 3
2 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will make a submission to the Joint Committee on the Environment and Local Government in advance of the Pan European Conference on the Environment to be held in 1998 in Aarhus, Denmark; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6072/98]
I will be glad to submit a report to the Joint Committee on the Environment and Local Government on the preparations for the fourth ministerial conference in the Environment for Europe process which will take place in Aarhus, Denmark, from 23 to 25 June.
The main issues on the agenda of the conference will be implementation of the environmental action programme for Central and Eastern Europe; the report, commonly known as the Dobris+3 Assessment, of the European Environment Agency on the state of the European environment; a draft convention on access to information and public participation in environmental decision making; draft protocols on control of emissions of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants; implementation of pan-European biodiversity and landscape strategy; European energy conservation initiative, and the programme for the phase-out of leaded petrol.
A report on the issues arising at the conference will be submitted to the joint committee in mid-April following a preparatory meeting for the conference which will be held in Geneva on 19 and 20 March.
Will the Minister make representations to the organisers of the conference to add another item to the agenda which is of significant concern to Ireland, namely the threat to the environment from the nuclear industry?
I am informed that this is not the appropriate forum for such an item. However, I assure the Deputy that if an opportunity arises or can be manufactured, the issue of nuclear safety and energy will be raised. The Deputy will be aware from his time in the Department of the Environment that various other means and conferences are used to raise this matter on an ongoing basis, including direct contact with the UK authorities. If an opportunity presents itself at this conference, the matter will be raised, as it has been raised elsewhere in the past. We will try to ensure that the issue is highlighted.
Does the Minister agree it is most appropriate to raise the greatest threat to our environment, the Sellafield/THORP complex which is only a few miles from the capital city, at a pan-European conference on the environment? The complex stores highly active liquid waste which is liable to explode. This would have dire consequences for Ireland and large parts of Europe. It is a nonsense not to include this primary threat and source of pollution to our environment at a European conference on the environment.
As the Deputy is aware, the issue of nuclear safety and the threat posed by nuclear energy is dealt with at a number of other fora. The Deputy is aware from his time in the Department of the various fora and means by which it is raised. The Aarhus conference relates primarily to East-West co-operation on environmental protection and this will be the focus of attention. I note the Deputy's comments and will raise the matter if the opportunity arises. The previous conference in Sofia during October 1995 did not address the nuclear issue either.
The conference will address east-west environmental issues. Given the experience of Chernobyl and the extent of similar tragedies waiting to happen, does the Minister agree that it would be appropriate to have the nuclear threat to the environment on the agenda at this conference? It is of no value to say it has not been discussed previously at this level. Does the Minister agree that the nuclear industry uses its muscle before these conferences to ensure the nuclear issue is kept off the agenda unless the efficiency of that industry, rather than the threat it poses, is at stake? The Minister should revisit this issue with the organisers of the conference and at least state Ireland's case with a view to having the threat of the nuclear industry discussed at the conference. If he does so I will be satisfied that he is trying to get the matter debated at the proper forum.
I assure the Deputy that I and other members of the Government will raise the issue of Sellafield and the nuclear industry, but if I have the opportunity to raise this matter I will do so in order to restate our general opposition to nuclear energy installations as well as reiterating our wish for a Europe-wide nuclear safety organisation. This is not the appropriate forum for raising specific issues, though I will try to ensure that the matter is raised during the conference.
Is the Minister refusing to seek to place the issue of Sellafield/THORP and the threat from that complex on the agenda of this conference?
I am not refusing to do so, but when the Deputy's party was in power—
The Government is just not doing anything.
——a similar conference was held in 1995, and the nuclear industry in individual countries was not addressed then either.
The Minister's party might have been in power for the last conference. That is why nothing was done.
