Vol. 526 No. 6
250 Ms Clune asked the Minister for Health and Children if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 171 of 23 May 2000, he has received a report from his Department's chief medical officer on the Stewart Report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27303/00]
The chief medical officer has commented on the contents of the report prepared in the UK on mobile phones and health but did not recommend that any specific additional measures needed to be taken here. It was noted that despite public concern about safety the recent advent of these instruments on a wide scale has meant that if there are any long-term health effects there has been little opportunity for these effects to manifest themselves. The report on balance is of the opinion that the available evidence suggests that exposure to this type of radiation below internationally accepted guidelines does not cause adverse health effects to the general population but cannot be absolutely definitive about this. While certain biological effects may occur below the above mentioned levels they are not indicative of any long-term adverse health effects. Nevertheless this does give rise to some concerns.
The report suggests that there are some gaps in knowledge which need to be filled by authoritative research and that a prudent approach to the use of technologies be adopted until further research is completed and evaluated. Licensed mobile phone companies operating here are required to comply with emission levels set by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection – ICNIRP. Compliance with these emission levels is monitored by the telecommunications regulator who publish an annual audit report.
