434 Mr. Currie asked the Minister for Health and Children if his attention has been drawn to a recent study (details supplied) which concludes that families who live near dumps run a greater risk of having disabled children and that the areas which carry more risk of abnormal births include Lucan, County Dublin; if he will order an immediate investigation into the findings of the study; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9158/02]

I am advised that the report referred to by the Deputy will not be published for some months yet. The findings of the report when published will be taken account of by the Health Research Board which is carrying out a study commissioned by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government on the environmental and health effects of thermal treatment of waste and landfill sites.