Vol. 395 No. 2
39 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport whether information available to the Government from the Meteorological Service indicates if there has been a change in the climatic conditions affecting Ireland; if so, the extent of such change; whether such change will affect agricultural and food production and other industries; whether such change will adversely affect citizens in their normal activities; and the reason for or source of such climatic changes.
Climatic conditions are never entirely static.
I am advised by the Meteorological Service that climatic records available for a number of meteorological stations in Ireland for periods exceeding 100 years indicate that there was a gradual rise in the mean annual temperature from the turn of the century until the mid-forties. From then until the end of the seventies there was a slight downward trend. Annual mean temperatures for the eighties were very similar to those of the seventies, and other parameters such as rainfall and cloudiness showed no significant trends.
In recent times, concern has been expressed about the so-called "greenhouse effect" but I understand that while average global temperatures during the eighties showed a modest but detectable rise, this trend has not been apparent in Ireland. I am advised that in the foreseeable future these climatic changes are not expected to have any effect on agricultural and food production, on other industries or citizens in their normal activities.
