I thank the Ceann Comhairle for affording me the opportunity to raise this important matter. There is a need for the Minister for the Environment and Local Government to introduce measures to amend the Planning and Development Act, 2001, and the Planning and Development Regulations, 2001, to restore the planning approval requirements for the erection of all telecommunications antennae support structures.
The issue of mobile phone masts was one of the first I raised in the Dáil after my election in 1997. I tabled a question to the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Dempsey, in October 1997, asking the Minister to initiate independent studies into the environmental and health implications of mobile phone masts. The response was unsatisfactory: in fact, no reference was made to my call for independent studies. Since that time, many more telecommunications antennae and support structures have been erected all over the country, but it is also the case that the concerns of communities at the effects of microwave radiation from these installations have not been allayed. Indeed, they have been compounded. Structures have been erected at unsuitable sites close to residences and schools and sometimes are obstructive new features on the landscape. The Minister repeatedly reassured communities that their fears were groundless. Under the Planning and Development Act and the Planning and Development Regulations, he has exempted these structures from normal planning procedures. He has taken away the right of communities and their elected representatives to scrutinise applications to erect these structures. The Minister and his colleagues in Government have dispensed with democratic accountability, a move I vigorously opposed at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment and Local Government. How could communities have confidence in the Minister or in the telecommunications companies when they proceed in such a manner?
I support the legitimate right of communities to protest peacefully against mobile phone masts where there is concern at their imposition and their health implications. At Lough-an-lea mountain in County Cavan, the local community has recently mounted a round the clock protest against the siting of a new 41 metre high mast on top of the mountain which already has a complex of masts and other support structures. The new mast has been erected beside an ancient cairn burial site and members of the community are protesting in order to protect the heritage and natural beauty of the area and to protect their own and their children's health.
I must reflect the anger of the community at Lough-an-lea and elsewhere, including Kingscourt, at some recent media coverage which has attempted to smear their campaign. They have been falsely accused of intimidation and in a disgraceful article in the Sunday Times of 17 February, a photograph of the protest at Lough-an-lea was captioned “Vigilantes” with a picture of an armed and masked man superimposed. The same article attempted to portray the role of my party as sinister and exploitative and tried to link both Sinn Féin and the community groups to incidents of damage to installations and alleged intimidation. These are lies. I have supported communities in their campaigns on this issue since my election and before. I know many of the people involved in these campaigns and they are decent, honourable people who are active out of genuine concern. They are good citizens exercising their rights.
There have been incidents of malicious damage and I wish to put on the record of the House that I condemn those incidents. I regard as scurrilous the suggestion in the Irish Independent of 12 February and the Sunday Times of 17 February, that republicans have been involved in such incidents. I reject any attempt to use such incidents to discredit legitimate local campaigns against masts. I uphold the right of all members of the community, including republicans, to involve themselves in these campaigns and to participate in the democratic pursuit of this issue. I fully accept the need for a modern telecommunications infrastructure, especially in neglected regions such as the Border region, but developments should be subject to normal planning regulations and should respect the concerns of local communities.
I urge the Minister to re-visit the legislation in a serious manner and to treat local communities with the respect they deserve.
