Vol. 507 No. 4
80 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the Irish proposals in relation to the recent OSPAR meeting and Sellafield; the response to these proposals; if she received a submission from Greenpeace in this regard; if she will amend the Irish position to take into account Greenpeace's views; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17036/99]
At last year's ministerial meeting of the OSPAR Commission held in Portugal, the contracting parties to the OSPAR Convention adopted a strategy on radioactive substances which has as its objective the virtual elimination of radioactive discharges to the maritime area of the North-East Atlantic by the year 2020. The strategy also requires the OSPAR Commission, by the year 2000, to show how they plan to implement the strategy.
At this year's meeting of the OSPAR Commission, Ireland submitted a follow-up proposal, which was supported by Iceland and Denmark. The proposal called on member countries to intensify their efforts and to ensure that the OSPAR Commission can identify and take the necessary action for achieving further substantial reductions or elimination of radioactive discharges, in accordance with the timeframe laid down in the strategy. The purpose of the proposal was to accelerate necessary work in preparation for the key Commission meeting in 2000.
The Irish proposal was approved at the Commission meeting. Furthermore, the commission agreed to pay particular attention to the principal sources of radioactive discharges including nuclear fuel reprocessing activities, and that where action by operators of such activities is required, such action would be taken without delay.
I had received correspondence from Greenpeace on their own proposals for the Commission meeting which I discussed with them. However, Ireland's proposal for the meeting reflected consultation which I had undertaken with Iceland and Denmark as part of preparations for the Commission meeting in 2000 which will be a milestone in terms of the strategy. In the event, the Commission meeting noted documents submitted by Greenpeace International which included a proposal from Greenpeace which essentially called on the contracting parties to decide that, in order to comply with the strategy, all reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel and associated radioactive discharges must be terminated as soon as possible.
I believe that last week's OSPAR decision is a further reinforcement of the contracting parties' commitment to the strategy. Ireland will continue to exert maximum pressure to ensure that the objectives of the strategy are met.
