Calls for body to monitor mobile emission

A SCIENTIFIC body should be appointed to monitor emissions from both mobile phone handsets and masts, an Oireachtas committee has recommended.

The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) could be expanded to fill this role if properly resourced, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources said.

The recommendation is one of several contained in the committee’s report on non-ionising radiation from mobile phones and masts, which was published at Leinster House yesterday.

As revealed in yesterday’s Irish Examiner, the report also recommends that all mobile phones sold here should have labels detailing the levels of radiation they emit.

In addition, the committee recommends that no mobile phones be allowed for sale unless they are certified as complying with the International Commission for Non-ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) standard.

The report also recommends that an independent board should be appointed to review, from the Irish perspective, the published scientific data and literature on mobile phone radiation.

It also says that the results of emission testing on masts and antennae around the country should be published on the websites of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, the RPII, and the industry regulator, ComReg.

“What in essence this report does is set out the ‘road map’ that should be adopted so that the concerns of the public can be addressed in a coherent and focused fashion that will allow the public understand what are the issues at play, and by doing this, will allow everyone have confidence in this technology,” said committee chairman, Noel O’Flynn TD.