EU Directives

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 May 2013

Thursday, 9 May 2013

Questions (141)

Luke 'Ming' Flanagan

Question:

141. Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government regarding EU Directive 2011/70/EURATOM (Nuclear Waste), Under Article 6 (3) describing financing of Competent Regulatory Authority, Member States are required to ensure that the competent regulatory authority is given legal powers and human and financial resources necessary to fulfill its obligations in connection with the National Framework as described in Article 5 (1) (b), (c), (d) and (e); if he will provide a preliminary figure signalling that the cost of this will reflect the general principle given in Article 4 (1) that each Member State shall have ultimate responsibility for management of radioactive waste generated in it, and that the figure will reflect that responsibility and only that responsibility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21949/13]

Written answers

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (Deputy Phil Hogan)

Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom of 19 July 2011 establishing a Community framework for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste requires Member States to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive before 23 August 2013.

Ireland has been dealing with the issue of radioactive waste for some time. My Department is currently developing the necessary Regulations to ensure that Ireland meets its obligations to transpose this Directive. The establishment of a National Implementation Committee (NIC) was one of the recommendations made in the Interim Report of the Interdepartmental High-Level Group on Radioactive Waste which was accepted by Government in December 2010.

The NIC was established to progress work on;

Developing an Inventory Reduction Programme to reduce the overall amount of waste requiring storage in Ireland;

The interim centralisation of sources by sector in a small number of sector-specific existing storage facilities;

The development of options for final disposal.

It comprises co-ordinators nominated by the key stakeholders in the sectors where disused sources are held; technical advice is also provided by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Committee is chaired by my Department.

It is too early in the process to attempt to quantify the costs that may arise as a consequence of the transposition of the Directive. These will be influenced by the quantity of such waste requiring long-term management in Ireland.