asked the Minister for the Marine if the Irish Government will attend the third North Sea Ministers' Conference in The Hague in March, 1990; and the steps which have been taken to implement the resolutions adopted at the second North Sea Conference in respect of the Irish Sea, with particular reference to (i) the cessation of industrial sea dumping (ii) the reduction of discharges of dangerous substances and nutrients and (iii) limiting industrial contamination of sewage sludge.
Written Answers. - North Sea Ministers' Conference.
39.
The Government will be attending the third North Sea Ministers' Conference in March 1990. The North Sea Declaration applies only to the North Sea and Ireland is not party to the Conference. Ireland will attend the conference as an observer, as it did in 1987.
Dumping in the Irish Sea is regulated by resolutions of the Oslo Commission. The Oslo Commission, of which Ireland is a member, adopted a decision at their meeting in Dublin in June this year to reduce and ultimately cease the dumping of industrial waste at sea from 31 December 1995 except for those industrial wastes for which it can be shown to the Commission that there are no practical alternatives on land and that the materials cause no harm in the marine environment.