Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 November 2020
102. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications his views on subsidising radon testing services to encourage more household testing for this cancer-causing radioactive gas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36088/20]
View answerRadon gas is recognised as a serious threat to public health and estimated to be responsible for approximately 300 deaths from lung cancer annually in Ireland.
In response to this issue, the then Government established a National Radon Control Strategy. The Strategy, which is now in its second phase covering the period 2019 to 2024, can be viewed at:
https://www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/radiation/The%20National%20Radon%20Control%20Strategy%20Phase%202.pdf
Implementation of the Strategy is overseen by the National Radon Control Strategy Group chaired by my Department.
Financial support for radon testing by households is one of the priorities for phase 2 of the Strategy, and the first steps have been taken to assess the uptake and cost of such a scheme. The next step is to review the outcome of this work from a behavioural science perspective, and assess different approaches to communication of risk and financial supports, to inform the design a national scheme that will optimise uptake. Work is ongoing in this area and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) have been engaged to carry out a study on the behavioural aspects of radon testing. Once the ESRI study findings have been analysed, careful consideration will be given to designing an appropriate radon financial support scheme for householders.
