Oireachtas

House adjourned in uproar over funding for residents' BNFL case

The Dail was adjourned for 15 minutes last night amid uproar during the resumed debate on the Fine Gael Private Member's motion…

By MICHAEL O'REGAN and MARIE O'HALLORAN
Thu Oct 16 1997 - 01:00

The Dail was adjourned for 15 minutes last night amid uproar during the resumed debate on the Fine Gael Private Member's motion on the financial support to be given by the Government to the Co Louth residents' group in its case against British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL).

On Tuesday, the Government accepted the motion, urging that it provide the necessary financial assistance to the residents, following indications by a number of Independent TDs, including Ms Mildred Fox (Wicklow), that they would vote with the Opposition.

Last night, there were heated exchanges between the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern, who represents Louth, and the Labour spokesman on energy, Mr Emmet Stagg. The Ceann Comhairle, Mr Seamus Pattison, threatened to adjourn the House and to suspend Mr Stagg.

At one time, Mr Ahern, Mr Willie O'Dea, a Minister of State, Mr Stagg and Mr Pattison were on their feet engaged in inaudible exchanges. Mr Pattison eventually adjourned the House for 15 minutes and Mr Stagg was suspended from the House amid renewed exchanges on the resumption.

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Ms Fox said the silence of successive governments on the issue had been deafening. She warned that unless concrete proposals were outlined by the Government, accepting the motion would be a token gesture.

Earlier, Mr Michael Bell (Labour, Louth) said that before coming into government, Fianna Fail had promised the residents it would provide them with an open cheque book. "Mr Ahern led the charge," he added. The Government should now tell them what exactly it was going to do and how much it would pay towards the legal case.

Mr Ahern challenged Mr Bell to produce a reference in anything he had said about providing the residents with an open cheque book. He said the issue had been dogged by inaction on the part of the previous government.

Mr Ahern said: "I challenge any members who come in after me from the far side to say that I am misleading the House when I say these things: that the previous government for 2 1/2 years was advised at all times that there was an insufficiency of evidence in relation to the taking of the case against BNFL and the fact that by the State taking a case they would be prejudicing the future taking of a case by the State.

"And could I also challenge them to say whether or not it is the case that their advice given at the time was that there was little or no scientific proof as to whether or not there was a case. And yet they were stringing out these people."

Mr Ahern said nobody had a monopoly on the case. "The fact is that we are all agreed that what needs to happen from here on in, in a spirit of co-operation with the residents, is that there would be a proper collection of research so that these people and the State could establish whether or not there is a case."

Amid noisy exchanges, Mr Stagg claimed that Mr Ahern was irresponsible to undermine a case before the courts. Challenged to outline the Government's current position by Mr Ivan Yates (FG, Wexford), Mr Ahern said: "The Government will do a lot more than your government."

Mr Eamon Gilmore (DL, Dun Laoghaire) said Mr Ahern had done very serious damage to the litigants' case against Sellafield. He called on the Minister to correct the impression he had left in his speech to the Dail "that the State has no case against Sellafield, that the litigants have no case and no scientific evidence on which to base this case".

Mr Brendan McGahon (FG, Louth) called Mr Ahern "the Minister for bluster" and the architect of Fianna Fail's "bum pledge" to fully fund the residents' action.

"Fianna Fail have their trousers around their ankles on this issue. They should pull them up and cover their dignity," he said.

He added that statistics from the North Eastern Health Board showed that the death rate from cancer was 15 per cent higher in Co Louth and the neighbouring Co Down. "There has to be rational explanations and it is the duty of the Government to fund research into this phenomenon."

In a statement after the debate, Mr Stagg said he had "forcefully pointed out that it was grossly irresponsible for a Minister to undermine a case that was before the courts. His (Mr Ahern's) opinion would not doubt be used in court by BNFL against the Dundalk residents and against Ireland."