Written Answers. - OSPAR Council.
John Gormley
Question:
146
Mr. Gormley
asked the
Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources
if he will attend the forthcoming OSPAR Council in Portugal; the achievements, if any, the Government will be seeking out of that meeting, particularly in relation to the disposal of offshore installations and the monitoring of radioactive waste in the waters of the north east Atlantic and the Irish Sea; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[16052/98]
On 22 and 23 July 1998 I will be attending the ministerial meeting of the OSPAR Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic, which will take place in conjunction with the annual meeting of the OSPAR Commission. The ministerial meeting will be the first such meeting under the OSPAR Convention since it entered into force on 23 February 1998.
Along with my ministerial colleagues I will be working for the adoption of: a new annex to the convention on the protection and conservation of the ecosystems and biological diversity of the maritime area; strategies to guide the future work of the OSCAR Commission with regard to: hazardous substances; radioactive substances; eutrophication; the protection and conservation of the ecosystems and biological diversity of the maritime area; an action plan setting out the actions and activities to be carried out by the Commission over the next five years; an OSPAR decision on the disposal of disused offshore installations; OSPAR decisions and recommendations aimed at the reduction of pollution from a number of industrial sectors including the PVC sector of the organic chemical industry, the primary non-ferrous metal industry; and the aluminium electrolysis sector; and draft guidelines for the management of dredged material and for the dumping of fish waste from land based industrial fish processing operations. At the end of our meeting we will adopt a ministerial declaration, giving political impetus to future action by the OSPAR Commission in support of good quality marine environment for the Northeast Atlantic.
In relation to the disposal of disused offshore installations, I am committed to an OSCAR decision that is governed by the precautionary principle, which takes account of potential effects on the environment. It must recognise that reuse, recycling or final disposal on land will generally be the preferred option for the decommissioning of offshore installations. In order to be successful the decision, which will be legally binding for the contracting parties who adopt it, must command the unanimous support of all contracting parties to the convention.
As to the question of radioactive discharges into the marine environment, the Irish Government will be seeking the phasing out of such discharges at the meeting of the OSPAR Commission. The Minister of State at the Department of Public Enterprise, Deputy Jacob, will attend the ministerial meeting to deal with radiological protection issues which are his specific responsibility.
Ireland, supported by Denmark, Norway and Iceland, has been to the forefront of discussions in the OSPAR working groups relating to the formulation of an OSPAR strategy with regard to radioactive substances, and these will be considered at the OSCAR Commission and ministerial meeting. Indeed, Ireland, supported by these countries, has tabled a number of amendments to the draft strategy aimed at strengthening the text with a view to moving towards the target of cessation of radioactive discharges by the year 2020. I should add that the Minister of State, Deputy Jacob, will also focus on technetium 99 discharges into the Irish Sea. He will call for these discharges to be reduced to pre-1994 levels with the ultimate aim of having them eliminated.
