The Department of Health and Children has begun making arrangements for the distribution of iodine tablets to every household in the State.
The move follows the discovery that a number of health boards had no usable stocks of iodine, contrary to claims made earlier this week by the Minister for Health, Mr Martin.
A spokesman for the Department confirmed last night that iodine tablets - which can be effective in preventing thyroid cancer in certain people exposed to radiation - would be pre-distributed to households, although not necessarily by post. "Distribution could be through local churches, schools or pharmacies. We have not decided yet," he said.
Early yesterday, the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Martin, apologised for claiming erroneously last Thursday that all health boards had stocks of iodine.
The Minister said he had made the claim "in good faith" on receipt of information from his Department. "I take responsibility ... and I apologise for that."
Speaking on RT╔'s Morning Ireland yesterday, Mr Martin added: "We have made arrangements and we're in the process of making arrangements to order new stocks and to pre-distribute to every household." The move, he said, was aimed at correcting an "inherent flaw" in the 1992 nuclear emergency plan whereby tablets were being stockpiled by health boards.
Iodine is said to offer limited protection, in the case of a major nuclear accident, to children or young people whose thyroid glands are still growing.
The gland is susceptible to absorbing cancer-causing radioactive iodine in radioactive clouds. The risk of such absorption can be minimised by ingesting non-radioactive iodine in advance.
Mr Martin said the Government was going beyond what many nuclear-powered countries did by pre-distributing. "The most they do is they have stockpiles at nuclear plants for residents and staff in the vicinity of those plants. Indeed, the World Health Organisation (WHO) do not recommend that we pre-distribute to every house in the country," he said.
The Minister's comments drew further criticism from Opposition politicians, including Green Party MEP Ms Nuala Ahern, who said the WHO had recommended in 1999 that pre-distribution to households "be seriously considered".
She accused the Government of being "completely adrift" on the matter of nuclear safety. Fine Gael TD Mr Charlie Flanagan called on the Government to lift the "information blackout" and publish its national nuclear emergency plan.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Public Enterprise, which has responsibility for the plan, said the "2001 version" would be published within a matter of weeks. She stressed the plan was operational in the meantime.