I am grateful to you, Sir, for giving me time to raise this matter, which has some connections with the Bill we talked about earlier today. The Commissioners of Irish Lights propose to erect a steel mast 720 feet high about five miles east of Loophead lighthouse. That work is proposed on foot of an international agreement signed by our Government on 6 August last concerning the establishment and operation of a Loran-C navigation system in north-west Europe and the north Atlantic. While the Loran-C system has a number of advantages the case for participating in the system is far from compelling. Fishermen's organisations here and in the UK have serious reservations about the system. Their belief is that they will eventually move to another navigation system entitled global positioning system —GPS — which is satellite based. They see no reason why they should first incur the cost of changing from their present Decca system to the Loran-C system and subsequently bear the extra cost of moving from the Loran-C system to GPS. Those costs could be substantial.
The current cost of a Loran-C receiver which would have to be installed if this system was brought into operation is between £2,500 and £3,500. In addition, it is not possible to transfer information electronically from the Decca system to Loran-C. The transfer must be carried out manually and it is a very exacting and time consuming procedure. It is not yet possible to say what the subsequent cost of a change to the global positioning system would be. All the EC fishing zones are situated inside regions covered by the Decca system and that system as a result is used by a very large number of Community fishing vessel owners for radio navigation and scanning the sea bed for fish. The general view among fishermen is that the Loran-C system is no more precise than the Decca system. The European Community organisation representing fishermen — EUROPECHE — is opposed to the introduction of Loran-C.
I should add in parenthesis that the Commission of the European Communities has supported the introduction of the Loran-C system but all I can discern from discussing the matter with those involved and from reading the literature is that the Commission's support for this system is very much less than being at the front of their collective minds.
I find it significant also that the United Kingdom, in spite of having been looking at this system for quite a long time has not yet signed the international agreement. The reason it has not done so is that the authorities there are currently negotiating to get a better deal for the Decca system that is now in operation there. Their belief seems to be that they can get a better deal from continuing with the Decca system than with Loran. That being the case, it seems questionable whether the Loop Head mast should be constructed at all.
The question of the health risk from both thermal and athermal radiation from the proposed mast has been raised. I have seen statements on both sides of that issue. As a layman, I would not dare to venture an opinion and I cannot decide between them; but I am very sceptical about some of the claims of possible dangers. The fact remains however that even the expert retained by the Commissioners of Irish Lights has pointed out that at present no Irish authority has responsibility for the safety of non-ionising radiation. He suggested that the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, set up by an Act of 1991, could be asked to undertake an assessment. I find it appalling that the matter has proceeded as far as it has without such an assessment having been done.
In addition, the mast would undoubtedly constitute a major visual intrusion into the area. It would be visible over a five mile radius by day, set as it would be on the cliff top plateau of Loop Head. It would be visible over even greater distances at night since it would have to be fitted with flashing strobe lights because it clearly would constitute a danger for air navigation and also for birds. The mast itself would have to be supported by a complex of guy-wires so that the visual intrusion would be quite substantial. It would be folly to inflict such a major environmental intrusion for the sake of an unwanted system which could soon become redundant.
Finally, under the law as it stands the Commissioners of Irish Lights do not require planning permission for this project. It would be outrageous to inflict such an environmental intrusion on the area in a situation in which local residents effectively have no statutory right to voice their opinions and have their views taken into account. I call on the Minister and the Government to halt this project immediately.