More than 20 international experts in radiation science will meet in Dublin this weekend to discuss the possible health risks of low-level radiation exposure.
The event is being hosted by the Dublin Institute of Technology's radiation centre, which has carried out research suggesting that diseases such as leukaemia could be caused by low doses of radiation.
Opening the four-day conference last night, Green MEP Ms Nuala Ahern criticised the lack of EU funding for research in the area.
"The deliberate exclusion of the field from funding by the European Union research programme with responsibility for radiation protection research, despite requests from the European Parliament, is both indefensible and dangerous," she said.