asked the Taoiseach if he will make an urgent request to the British Government to close down the nuclear plant at Sellafield.
Private Notice Questions. - Sellafield Nuclear Plant.
asked the Taoiseach, if in view of the serious public concern about the number of incidents at the Sellafield Nuclear Reprocessing Plant in Britain involving leaks of radioactive material and the evidence that British Nuclear Fuels have on a number of occasions given misleading and inaccurate information about incidents at the plant, he will indicate the measures the Government are taking to ensure the health and safety of Irish citizens is not endangered; pending discussions with the British Government on the future of the plant, if he will request the British authorities to agree to the appointment of an observer nominated by the British Government to be based in Sellafield and to monitor and report on all incidents there and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I intend to take the two questions together. It is appropriate that I should say how disturbed the Government have been, and continue to be, about the entire situation.
I intend to raise these concerns at a meeting which I am having with the British Prime Minister tomorrow and I would intend to convey to her that the number of incidents, notwithstanding that they may be described as being of negligible radiological significance, has caused a loss of confidence in Ireland in the safety of the reprocessing of nuclear materials at Sellafield. This loss of confidence has been heightened by the disclosure in The Sunday Times of 16 February 1985 that discharges from Sellafield which took place in 1953-55 may have been 40 times higher than those made available for the Black report.
In the light of all this, I will be urging the British Prime Minister that there should be a thorough review of safety procedures at the Sellafield plant. I intend also to seek ministerial discussions in Brussels with a view to proposing a European inspection force which would monitor activities such as those at Sellafield.
In recent years this Government, through the contact group established with the UK, and by other means, have taken steps designed to ensure that we would be kept abreast of all developments at Sellafield. But because of my dissatisfaction with the information we have been given, it is my intention to seek a full meeting of officials of all relevant Departments and bodies in the UK and in the Republic. I consider that this would contribute to greater cohesion in the prompt receipt of the information being made available. I see this as a necessary improvement to the working of the contact group established by Irish and UK Ministers in 1984.
At his meeting with the British Prime Minister tomorrow, will the Taoiseach convey to her the deep anxiety felt throughout Ireland at the continuing existence of this potentially deadly menace, and the widespread anger and resentment that exist here because of the many false statements made, bogus reassurances given and the cover up engaged in by the British authorities in this matter?
As I have said, I will convey to the British Prime Minister that the number of incidents have caused loss of confidence in Ireland in the safety of the reprocessing plant at Sellafield, and this has been heightened by the information now available that earlier figures given were incorrect. We have been concerned also that the initial information given in respect of an incidents of 5 February 1986 turned out to be incorrect. The fact that in these two incidents in particular the information made available initially — in one case the information was allowed to stand for a long period — proved to be incorrect gives particular cause for concern. We were not promptly and fully informed of what actually had been happening at Sellafield.
Does the Taoiseach not recall that the Tánaiste, following a meeting with British Ministers and officials in London regarding Sellafield safety in February 1984 said that he was particularly satisfied with the talks and that Mr. Jenkins had reassured him that an incident such as last year's could not happen again? Will the Taoiseach now admit that these assurances, like all the similar assurances which followed, were worthless and that the Tánaiste was naive to the point of negligence in accepting them?
I do not accept that. The position is that the information available to us, and it may well be available to the British Government also, was incomplete.
That is no excuse.
That is now clear and it is a matter of concern that we should ensure against repetition of that. It is for that reason that I intend, inter alia, seeking Ministerial discussions in Brussels with a view to proposing a European inspection force to monitor activities such as those at Sellafield.
Will the Taoiseach not accept the proposal I put forward in relation to the appointment of an Irish Government observer at Sellafield? Will the Taoiseach indicate if he is aware that Dr. Black, an Irish scientist, has indicated that in his view the only way to make Sellafield safe is to have it shut down? Will the Taoiseach comment on the view expressed by Dr. Nolan of the Irish Nuclear Energy Board that reports from the nuclear installation inspectorate in Britain are not being made available to him promptly or in any detail?
As I have said, the question of the availability of information is something that concerns us. That is why I am seeking a full meeting of officials of all relevant Departments and bodies in the UK and the Republic, because I am not convinced that the information coming separately from different sources at present is giving a coherent picture or that we are getting the information as rapidly as we should.
On the Deputy's first point, I have to say that the question as it reached me proposed an observer nominated by the British Government, not the Irish Government. It was only when the Deputy read out his question that I learned that it was an Irish Government observer he was proposing. That seems to me to be a more reasonable proposal than the one I received in writing. In fact, I believe this is a matter that could better be dealt with, if we can achieve that, through a European inspection force. That is a matter that we will be raising in the first instance in Brussels.
Does the Taoiseach recall that when I called in July 1984 for the closure of Sellafield and the imprisonment of those responsible for running the plant I was accused by the then Minister for the Environment, Deputy Kavanagh, of indulging in alarmist questioning? Does the Taoiseach further recall that the Minister of State at the Department of Energy, Deputy Eddie Collins, accused me of indulging in alarming questioning on 22 January 1985 and stated that there was no danger to people living in Ireland from discharges from Sellafield? Will the Taoiseach now ask the Ministers to withdraw their statements, admit they were wrong and apologise to the Irish people for their negligent behaviour?
Or fire them.
(Interruptions.)
I have to point out that, while we are concerned about the discharges, concerned that there have been a number of incidents there, concerned that within a period of three weeks there have been three incidents which is a very high rate of occurrence of incidents——
Too late.
——and concerned about the flow and accuracy of information, nonetheless the monitoring being carried out here, both in respect of marine life and of the atmosphere, indicate that the level of discharges that reach this country is at a very low level indeed. I believe I am right in saying that it is under 1 per cent of the safety margin. I do not accept what the Deputy has said, but the fact that that is the result of our own monitoring of the air and sea pollution does not mean that we can be satisfied with a situation in which incidents have occurred with such frequency and in which the information available has turned out to be correct. That is why the matter has to be pursued further.
Will the Taoiseach now admit that his Government and Ministers have been grossly negligent in their handling of this issue, firstly pretending that there was no problem at all regarding Sellafield and then accepting worthless assurances in regard to it and now, even at this late stage, leaving the matter to be dealt with by a rather incompetent junior Minister? Will the Taoiseach not accept the view from this side of the House that the only safe way of dealing with this matter from the point of view of the Irish people is to close this menace and close it forthwith?
I do not accept any of the Deputy's earlier statements. With regard to the closure of Sellafield, that is a situation that could arise in the light of the monitoring procedures which we propose.
The only monitoring the Taoiseach has is The Sunday Times.
I am referring to the monitoring procedure I have taken up in Brussels through the Council of Ministers there.
As Head of the Irish Government will the Taoiseach not now take the necessary steps to protect the Irish people from this danger which is no longer problematic but certain? Is the Taoiseach prepared to stand up to the British Government on this matter or is he now completely in their pocket?
(Interruptions.)
Shame on Deputy Haughey.
Hand it all over to Barry.
Flippancy from that side will not get them off on this one.
Or telling lies about the issue.
I should like to ask the Taoiseach a question about the funding of the Nuclear Energy Board, which, it is alleged, is underfinanced and, therefore, is being restricted in its ability to monitor the effects of radioactivity in the Irish Sea, in the atmosphere and along our coasts.
Will the Taoiseach indicate if it is proposed to increase the funding to the NEB to make their monitoring more effective? Will the Taoiseach clarify for me his reference to the possibility of a European observer in Sellafield? The Taoiseach made that statement in response to my request that an Irish observer should be appointed by the Irish Government for Sellafield.
I had difficulty hearing the last part of the Deputy's question.
I suggested that the Irish Government should have an observer resident at Sellafield and, in response to that, the Taoiseach indicated that he hoped to achieve this by having a European observer appointed. Will the Taoiseach clarify what he meant by that?
What I had in mind was that a European inspection force should be available to monitor activities such as those at Sellafield but not necessarily only Sellafield. The Deputy will appreciate that the question as put down proposed a British Government observer which did not seem to me to be a particularly satisfactory way of dealing with the problem. That did not seem to be a particularly useful way to attack this. It seemed to me that it would be better to look for a European inspection force which could draw on a wide range of expertise, could take a wider view and give us reliable guidance to problems that might arise. That seems to me to be the best way to proceed at this stage.
Problems have arisen.
I will allow Deputy De Rossa ask a further supplementary to be followed by Deputy Gerard Brady, because he has been taking an interest in this.
I must take issue with the Taoiseach on this matter of a European inspectorate. Inspections up to now have been inadequate and what is required is an Irish presence pending a decision on what is to be done with the installation. There is a need for an Irish presence at Sellafield to constantly monitor what is going on.
He would be contaminated.
I am asking the Taoiseach to press for that.
As I was not aware that that was the point the Deputy was raising, I would have to reflect on it. I do not exclude it, but it seemed to me that a European monitoring force would be better than having a British observer. I will reflect on the point the Deputy has made now that I understand the point he is trying to get at.
In the light of the little understood fact that British Nuclear Fuels have an expansion plan for Sellafield of the order of £2 billion and that 20 to 30 monthly shipments of nuclear fuel traverse the Irish Sea, may I raise the matter on the Adjournment?
That concludes Question Time.
I wish to raise on the Adjournment——
I thought Deputy Brady was asking a question. Otherwise I would not have called him.
I was asking a question.
That is all right. I will allow Deputy O'Leary to put his question later. I have received notice from the Taoiseach that he wishes to make an announcement.