I understand that the first such case brought before the US courts was in the state of Florida in 1992. It eventually came to trial and was dismissed in May 1995 by a federal district court judge. The case was later abandoned.
Since that first case I am aware of at least seven later lawsuits in the United States where exposure to mobile phones has been alleged to cause brain tumours. Of these additional seven cases, one has been dismissed while six have still to be brought to trial.
Mobile telephones in use in Ireland meet the exposure standards recommended by major health advisery bodies worldwide, including: the International Committee on Non-ionising Radiation Protection, who are advisers to the World Health Organisation on these matters; the American National Standards Institute; the United States National Council for Radiation Protection and Measurements.
Compliance with international non-ionising radiation emission standards is a condition attached to all telecommunications licences for mobile telephony services issued in Ireland. The Director of Telecommunications Regulation, who was appointed pursuant to the Telecommunications (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1996, is responsible for ensuring compliance with licence conditions and will arrange for monitoring of non-ionising radiation emissions.
Concerning studies into the effects of mobile phone radiation I can inform the House that in 1996 a major review of the health issues raised by non-ionising radiation emitted by telecommunications masts was carried out by the International Commission on Non-ionising Radiation Protection.
The report concluded that there is no substantive evidence of adverse health effects from exposure to levels of non-ionising radiation at levels at or below those set in 1988 by the International Radiation Protection Association. The IRPA guidelines are compulsory in Ireland.
A number of tests carried out by Forbairt confirm that actual emissions from masts in Ireland are well below the limits. Further research in the area has been proposed recently in a report commissioned by the European Commission and I can confirm that my Department will be monitoring developments to ensure that the most up-to-date standards are applied to emissions in this country.
