I recall the incident which occurred 20 years ago in Chernobyl and our thoughts and prayers are with the people of the Ukraine. On this day 20 years ago 80 miles north of Kiev, a fireball exploded in one of four reactors, affecting not only ecosystems, human genes and the entire northern hemisphere but also the collective psyche of the developed western world.

As the Government is aware, we face a clear and present danger in Sellafield. Given the potential radiation threat we face from terrorism or accidental nuclear fall-out, everybody hopes that children in this country will never be deemed the new Chernobyl children. It is only right and proper that we pay tribute to Adi Roche, Ali Hewson and the many others from this country who have played their parts over the years in dealing with the human consequences of the Chernobyl accident. Over the years, Irish Governments have had difficulties with BNFL in terms of radiation leaks, accidents and deliberate cover-ups of radiation levels in the Irish sea, which have caused great concern to everybody in this country.

The Taoiseach will be aware that radiation, like terrorism, does not observe any borders, so this country is in a doubly difficult position. First, Sellafield, which is located 90 miles from the Irish coast, is inescapably close. Second, Britain has been declared a preferred target for international terrorism by such as al-Qaeda on a number of occasions. Therefore, on the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl, Ireland can certainly hope for the best but should also meticulously prepare for the worst.

The "Fallout" programme on RTE, which was broadcast in two parts, gave a chilling indication of what might happen in the event of a catastrophic accident at Sellafield. While the programme was fictional, many who watched it felt it reflected the scale of the difficulties that this country would face. That calls into question this country's level of preparedness for dealing with a possible incident. While the Irish character is one which would always say "it will be all right on the night", there is no room for complacency on an issue like this.

Is the Taoiseach happy that we have the structures in place to react rapidly and effectively in the event of a serious accident at Sellafield? What level of funding has the Government provided to deal with preparations for a national emergency? Are the emergency services satisfied that they have all the necessary equipment, such as chemical jackets, to cope with the results of a nuclear accident? What discussions has the Taoiseach held with the British Prime Minister with regard to being informed in the event of a terrorist attack on Sellafield? Is the Taoiseach aware of Britain's intentions in respect of its enhanced nuclear programme, which may include other nuclear generating stations on the west coast of Britain?

I join Deputy Kenny in observing the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl. Our thoughts are with the families who died or suffered and who continue to suffer, as we have seen in the programmes broadcast in the past week. Thousands of families in Ireland have become personally involved with children and families from the region through the efforts of Adi Roche and many others who worked on this issue during the past 20 years.

Across Europe, renewed debate is taking place on the viability of nuclear energy. As I noted here on a number of occasions recently, it is my belief that nuclear energy is not a solution. Its consequences are dangerous in the short, medium and long term and, as a non-nuclear State, we have played a strong role in preventing the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and in developing a legal strategy to force the eventual closure of Sellafield, which is located on our doorstep. Today is a day for remembrance and reflection on the victims, both living and dead, of the Chernobyl disaster and I am sure everybody in the House will join Deputy Kenny in that.

On the wider issue, the Deputy will be aware that the Government has continued to fight for the safe closure of Sellafield. The site poses an unacceptable threat to this country on the grounds that ongoing pollution, poor safety records and the potentially serious impact of a major disaster or terrorist attack could affect all aspects of life here. The Government has been proactive at every level in taking political, diplomatic and legal action to advance Ireland's cause.

As regards Deputy Kenny's questions on the level of preparedness, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has spoken about that, as has the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland in recent days. For the past 20 years, national administrations, in accordance with guidance from the UN, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European Commission, have been developing and updating nuclear emergency responses on an ongoing basis. Our national plan, which was updated last Christmas and has been published, is designed to respond to a major disaster in a nuclear installation in the UK or elsewhere. It contains comprehensive arrangements for the early notification of nuclear accidents to the competent Irish authorities.

On the specific question put by Deputy Kenny, an agreement is in place between Ireland and Britain, as well as internationally, to immediately relay to governments information on any incident of this kind. That would be done at EU level and by national governments. In fairness to the British Government, it has relayed detailed information when incidents took place and has become stronger in doing so in recent years. That does not change our position that we would rather see it updated. There is also timely accurate advice to the public, mobilisation of the emergency services, monitoring radioactive emissions and co-operation with international agencies. The plan has been audited and validated.

Deputy Kenny asked if I was satisfied. One is never satisfied on such an issue because one hopes it will never be tested and the only way to guarantee that would be if Sellafield were not there. The national emergency committee meeting involves all the services, including the Garda, the Defence Forces and international experts. We have used many international experts in recent years, particularly in the preparation of our cases. People with world expertise have assisted us in our planning and our fight in the case.

On Deputy Kenny's last question, although I do not know what the final British policy will be, everything I have heard from British politicians from the two main parties is that they are still committed to nuclear energy. I was watching a debate last night in which politicians spoke about Chernobyl. They all said how terrible Chernobyl was, but said they were pro-nuclear. It is up to every politician to reconcile his or her mind on these issues.

The Taoiseach has responded on what the Government has been doing about this. The advice given to the Government and the decision it took on the closure of Sellafield was to proceed through the United Nations, which was the incorrect approach. What is the status of the Government's case against Britain for the closure of Sellafield?

I hope the national emergency plan will never be tested. Following its updating, as has been pointed out by Deputy Timmins on a number of occasions, when so many Departments and committees are involved and when everybody is in charge, nobody is in charge. God forbid it would ever happen, but in the same way former Mayor of New York, Mr. Rudolph Guiliani, took charge after 11 September, would it not be more feasible, as indicated by the Emergency Planning Society report, to have one central control unit in charge of such a national emergency? In a survey seven out of ten people felt the Government was ill prepared for a national emergency. Is it not the case that no independent audit of the national emergency plan has been done to verify that it would work in practice? Is the Taoiseach concerned about the recent comments by a representative of fire fighters that they do not have sufficient equipment and resources to deal with something like this? Will the Taoiseach indicate when the Minister, Deputy Roche, will be in a position to take the case for Government to Europe for closure of Sellafield?

Our national plan has been audited, tested and validated internationally in line with best practice. That is a continual process. On Deputy Kenny's point about co-ordination of the various organisations such as the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, the Garda and the Defence Forces, the plan sets out how these should be co-ordinated and the centre of co-ordination. Not only are these detailed in the plan but in the trial runs, the latest one being last year, the co-ordination scheme was implemented. We have followed best international practice in this.

Regarding our case, we have brought together some of the world's best experts in this field from the US and elsewhere, people who have been on both sides of this argument and who have considerable expertise in the preparation of our case. We are pressing on with our case and will continue to do so. We await the final judgement of the European Court and we have indicated clearly that we will go to the European Court of Justice and have presented a strong case that is being prepared by the Minister, the Attorney General and the team that has worked on this for us. We have made our position on this clear to the British Government. While this issue has been raised in recent days, we have been proactive and are prepared for a nuclear emergency, we have anticipated everything it is likely we would be asked to do and have applied internationally set criteria and continue to validate it against international best practice.