As the Deputies are aware, the primary purpose of the Bill is to provide for the merging of the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland and the Environmental Protection Agency. The Bill introduces the necessary statutory provision to enable Ireland ratify the 2005 amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, CPPNM. The CPPNM amendment expands the scope of the convention to include measures to protect the environment from any possible deliberate harmful release of nuclear materials or radiation through sabotage of a nuclear facility.
I stress to the House that the merger of the RPII and the EPA will not in any way result in a diminution of our commitment to radiological protection of the Irish public. The merging of the two organisations will enhance our capacity to continue to deliver regulatory and advisory functions to the highest standard as well as to foster greater synergies and linkages between radiological and environmental policies and actions. The two organisations already work closely together in a number of areas, including drinking water monitoring, waste management, water quality and the emergency response protocol. I remind the House that the EU basic safety standards directive, which was agreed during the Irish Presidency of the EU, has as one of its core principles the protection of the environment against the harmful effects of ionising radiation. There is a general move internationally to advance the crossover between environmental and radiological protection, and the amendment of the CPPNM, which includes measures to protect the environment, is a clear case where this occurs. These examples illustrate the growing synergies and interdependence between the functions of the RPII and the EPA, and this process can only be enhanced by the merger of the two organisations.
I will briefly address a number of specific issues raised by the Deputies as the Bill progressed. Ongoing engagement with the UK on all nuclear related matters, on which the Department has worked hard in recent years, will continue. I assure the House the merger of the RPII with the EPA will in no way lessen or reduce the high level of security applied to the Sellafield issue. I am told a visit by representatives of the Department, the EPA and the RPII to the site at Sellafield is being arranged for later this year.
Another issue raised in several contributions was that of radon. The national radon control strategy, NRCS, prepared by an interagency group and published in February, sets out 48 recommendations with the ultimate aim of reducing the number of radon-related lung cancer cases which have amounted to 250 this year. Successful implementation of the strategy will require action from a range of Departments, public bodies and other stakeholders. A co-ordination group chaired by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is being established to monitor implementation of the strategy and report annually on progress. At the end of the four-year period covered by the NRCS action plan it will make recommendations to the Government on what further actions are considered necessary at the time. With regard to radon control, I assure Deputies the comprehensive action plan being implemented will in no way be adversely impacted by the merger of the RPII and the EPA.
Concern was expressed about the name of the merged body. The name of the merged body will be the Environmental Protection Agency and the office of the radiological protection agency will be one of five divisions within it. The issue of naming and branding the merged organisation was very carefully considered in the course of the merger project. A number of options were examined prior to the final decision being made. The merger working group established to implement the Government's decision to merge the two bodies and made up of officials of the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, the RPII and the EPA considered the possibility of a name change for the EPA. The role of the Environmental Protection Agency in radiological protection was also examined. Of the 35 members of the European EPA network, 14 have at least some involvement in radiological protection. Most of these are named an environmental protection agency, environmental agency or some derivative. None has the words "radiation" or "radiological" in its title. The issue with regard to the name was referred to the Minister, Deputy Hogan, who, after further deliberation, decided to keep the EPA name. This decision was communicated to the RPII board on 24 June 2013 and the reasons behind the decision were explained in detail in further correspondence.
The ultimate aim of the Government's agency rationalisation programme is to reduce the number of State bodies and integrate their roles and responsibilities into existing bodies with consequential effective savings. Irrespective of the level of savings, the general policy is to follow through on mergers and rationalisation unless there are strong evidence-based reasons for not doing so.
