The communications mast in question was erected in 1988. All the antennae mounted on the mast, with the exception of a Vodafone GSM system, are State-owned and authorised installations. It is not proposed to specify details of these systems for security reasons.
I am advised by the military authorities that the telecommunications equipment installed on the mast in question complies with the standards set down by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, ICNIRP, and that, in addition, this equipment complies with the highest international technical standards for safe operation as set out by CENELEC, the European communications electrical standards body, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, the International Telecommunications Union, and the Federal Communications Commission. These systems and associated antennae are regularly checked and maintained to ensure that they are working within specification and pose no health and safety risk to anyone in the vicinity of the mast. The Vodafone GSM system was installed in June 1998 and comprises a single beam antenna to provide coverage in the Phoenix Park area with an associated microwave link.
I am advised that while there is no statutory requirement for owners or users of communications masts to have electromagnetic field strength tests carried out, the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, which is the licensing authority for the use of the radio frequency spectrum in Ireland, has recently completed a large survey of communications facilities on behalf of the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. The location in question was not selected as one of the sites for survey on this occasion. However, I understand that ComReg may be requested to undertake further measurements next year although a decision in that regard has yet to be made.
