asked the Minister for Defence the plans to protect the population in the event of nuclear fallout; and if he will consider the provision of shelters such as those being constructed in several European countries.
Written Answers. - Nuclear Fall-Out Protection Plans.
666.
My Department's policy for the protection of the population from the effects of radioactive fallout is based on the idea of domestic refuge rooms prepared by householders themselves and on the ability of the Civil Defence organisation to predict and monitor radio-activity and to warn and advise the public in relation to it.
For the levels of radiation which might reasonably be expected here, the mere fact of staying indoors, in itself, provides a significant protection and this protection factor can be very substantially increased by carrying out simple protective measures. Advice to the public in this regard is contained in my Department's booklet "Bás/Beatha" which is available free of charge.
The arrangements for detecting, measuring and predicting radio-activity and for warning and advising the public in relation to it are tested annually by means of the Civil Defence National Fallout Exercise the most recent of which — Network '81 — took place on Sunday, 29 November.