The proposed erection of an Esat Digifone mast at the Garda Barracks in Maam, County Galway, is causing great concern in the area. It is a rural area of outstanding scenic amenity and is usually very peaceful. I am aware of the contractual arrangements between Esat Digifone, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Office of Public Works and the Garda Commissioner concerning the erection of a large number of such masts — approximately 480 — at Garda stations throughout the country. When the contract was drawn up, not enough consideration was given in its terms to situations like that at Maam. Tiernakill national school is situated in close proximity to the Garda barracks and the mast. The mast is only 12 feet from the boundary of the school and only 27 feet from the school building.
The current Garda mast has a 25 watt capacity while the proposed mast will have a 34 watt capacity. I am not qualified to enter into the technical debate about the safety or potential danger of radiation from such masts, but I fully accept the grave and growing concern of the teachers, parents and children in the Tiernakill school catchment area. The fear of the unknown is widespread in the community. Parents do not know what will be added to the mast in future or what effect this will have on transmissions.
The various Departments should have a qualified information officer whose responsibility would be to meet and inform communities, such as Maam, about all matters relating to installation and operation of such masts. We should cut out the mystery and clearly spell out to communities exactly what the erection of such masts means, what monitoring will take place after they go into use and what safeguards the people in the area will have against breaches of the guidelines or conditions of use of such masts. A great deal of the difficulties in Maam would have been avoided if the contract entered into with Esat Digifone had excluded the erection of such masts at Garda stations within a certain distance of schools.
I assure the Minister this is a serious problem in Tiernakill national school. I attended a public meeting there recently and the teachers and parents are angry and concerned and determined to ensure the erection of this mast should not go ahead so close to the school. I was asked to alert the Ministers concerned that if the plans for the erection of this mast go ahead, the very future of the school could be at risk and this would be a tragedy for the area. Maam is a rural area unparalleled in beauty and scenic amenity. It is situated five miles and eight miles from the nearest national schools at Cornamona and Leenane. We should do everything in our power to keep such a community alive.
There is a solution to the problem. In a Department of the Environment and Local Government booklet issued on the matter, a directive was given that new transmitters would use existing masts where they were available. An ESB mast is available less than half a mile away and the community would have no objection to or difficulty with additional transmission facilities there. I urge the Minister to consult his colleagues, the Ministers for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Education and Science, to ensure no obstacle would be put in the way of allowing Esat Digifone to change the proposal and relocate their transmission equipment to the ESB mast nearby. I understand from the telephone company that it would examine the alternative location if it got the necessary assurances from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform that it would not be in breach of contract by any delay caused by investigating the alternative location. I urge the Minister to liaise with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and find a solution to this serious problem for the teachers, parents and pupils of Tiernakill national school, Maam.