Vol. 572 No. 5
14 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government the matters discussed and conclusions reached at the meeting of the OSPAR Convention in Bremen on 25 and 26 June 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23613/03]
The OSPAR Commission, established under the OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the north-east Atlantic, met at ministerial level in Bremen on 25 and 26 June 2003 and discussed a wide range of issues relating to the protection of the marine environment.
I assume that the question relates to the Commission's review of the OSPAR strategy with regard to radioactive substances which, along with four other strategies, was adopted at the previous OSPAR ministerial meeting in 1998. This strategy essentially provides that by the year 2020, discharges of radioactive substances are to be progressively and substantially reduced to levels where the additional radioactivity concentrations in the marine environment above historic levels resulting from such discharges are close to zero.
The OSPAR Commission, at its meeting in June, reviewed the progress towards implementation of the strategy having regard, inter alia, to the national plans for implementation of the strategy submitted by each of the contracting parties to the convention. The meeting agreed on the period 1995 to 2001 as the reference period for establishing the baselines in respect of discharges, concentrations and doses against which progress in implementing the strategy can be measured. It also agreed that, provided national plans are implemented as forecast, the overall level of discharges will be reduced by 2020.
The meeting also noted that there is scope for the evolution of all national plans over time and for confirmation from the individual contracting parties concerned that they will ensure the continued evolution and implementation of their national plans so as to achieve the objective of the strategy in accordance with the 2020 timeframe. However, the commission agreed that, given the intermediate nature of the national plans and the need for their refinement and revision over time, it was not possible at this stage to make a final assessment as to whether the combined effects of the national plans would achieve the objective of the strategy to the extent required by the 2020 timeframe. The commission has agreed on the need to determine by 2006 a methodology for assessing progress of the plans towards implementation of the strategy and for updating national plans.
The meeting noted the concerns of a number of the contracting parties, including Ireland, about discharges of technetium-99 from Sellafield and their view that these should cease immediately. Ireland will continue to participate actively in OSPAR to ensure that the objective of the strategy is delivered in full and on time.
