Vol. 488 No. 4
64 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Public Enterprise whether she will establish an independent body on non-ionising radiation which will reassess the present safety guideline and set maximum emission and exposure levels in order to protect public health; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6333/98]
Section 9 of the Radiological Protection Act, 1991 allows for the extension, by way of ministerial order, of the role of the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland to cover issues relating to non-ionising radiation. At present, however, responsibility for issues relating to emissions of non-ionising radiation from communications masts rests with the director of Telecommunications Regulation and I see no reason to amend this position.
The director, I understand, is putting in place, at present, a comprehensive system audit of such emissions, which will include measurements at a number of sites in order to ensure that licence conditions are being complied with by operators. A copy of the statement issued by the director last week has been sent for the Deputy's information.
On the question of the safety guidelines operating in Ireland, much work is being carried out internationally on this issue and I propose to await the outcome of this work. The facts in this research are as follows:
In 1996 a major review of the health issues raised by non-ionising electromagenetic radiation was carried out by the International Commission on Non-ionising Radiation Protection — who are advisers to the World Health Organisation on such matters. 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 (IRPA).
The IRPA guidelines are applied in Ireland through the licences held by mobile telephony and MMDS operators. It is a matter for the Director of Telecommunications Regulation to ensure compliance with these requirements.
Further research in this area has been proposed recently in a report commissioned by the European Commission and my Department will be monitoring international developments and, as necessary, participating in the comprehensive programmes of research being undertaken to ensure that the most up-to-date standards are applied to emissions in this country.
