Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 6 Feb 1991

Vol. 404 No. 7

Written Answers. - Monitoring Sea Pollution.

Tomás MacGiolla

Ceist:

65 Tomás Mac Giolla asked the Minister for the Environment if the Irish and British Governments have agreed to establish a special body to monitor pollution in the Irish Sea, when this body will be established; the way it will be financed; if it will have a secretariat and monitoring staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (Miss Harney)

Under arrangements agreed ministerially in 1985, meetings at official level are held periodically between Ireland and the United Kingdom to exchange information and compare policies on the Irish Sea. These arrangements facilitated the production in 1988 by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea of a status report on the Irish Sea.

It has been recently agreed to build on these existing consultation arrangements by establishing a co-ordination group to review existing monitoring and research programmes for the Irish Sea, to advise on the scope for better integration of present activities and to identify new areas for attention. A full-time scientific co-ordinator will be appointed to assist this group. Apart from the costs of the co-ordinator, which will be shared by the Irish and UK authorities, no additional expenditure will arise from this new arrangement.

Details of the new agreement are receiving attention here and in the UK and should be finalised shortly.