Gormley slams Govt 'spin exercise' on iodine tablets

Green Party TD John Gormley has accused the Government of engaging in an expensive spin exercise by distributing iodine tablets to protect the population from radiation.

The tablets were distributed to every household three years ago amid fears of an accident or attack on the Sellafield nuclear plant in Britain, but they are due to reach their best-before date this March.

Speaking about the matter today, Mr Gormley said the Government had effectively wasted €2.2m on distributing the tablets for no good reason whatsoever.

He said the facility at Sellafield that used to emit radioactive iodine had been shut down and the British authorities had since stopped distributing iodine tablets to local residents.

"The whole iodine story was a lot of expensive spin," he said.