Vol. 513 No. 6
436 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the issuing of a press statement by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland which gave vague information on radon levels in unspecified schools, causing widespread panic among many parents in many counties who believed that their schools had radon levels 13 times higher than the safety limit. [3282/00]
437 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will allay the fears of people living in Carlow and Kilkenny by assuring them that remedial work will be carried out immediately on the 17 schools in Carlow and the 21 in Kilkenny which have been found to have unacceptably high levels of radon gas in their buildings. [3283/00]
438 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Education and Science if schools in Counties Carlow and Kilkenny which have been found to have unacceptably high levels of radon gas in their buildings will be further monitored to ensure that remedial work has been carried out successfully. [3284/00]
439 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will make a statement re-assuring parents, teachers and boards of management that the health of students and staff in schools in Counties Carlow and Kilkenny will not suffer due to the high level of radon gas occurring in their schools. [3285/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 436 to 439, inclusive, together.
My Department commissioned the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland to carry out a survey of radon levels in all primary and post-primary schools in the country. The survey, which is being conducted in three phases, involves recording the concentration of radon gas present in a school over an academic year.
The RPII recently issued results to schools that participated in the first phase of the survey. At that time the RPII advised in a press release that the results were issuing to the relevant schools and that my Department was making arrangements for remedial action to be taken where required, with priority being given to the cases of greatest need.
A total of 175 schools showed radon levels in excess of the national reference level with 13 schools showing levels that require immediate mitigation. A consultant has already been engaged to advise in relation to this task.
