§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table showing the intensity of radioactivity present in the(a) soil, (b) peat, (c) grasses and (d) heather in the areas of (i) Glenshane, County Londonderry, (ii) Belraugh, County Londonderry and (iii) Glenwherry, County Antrim when the effect of the radioactive discharges from Chernobyl were first measured and showing the present levels in each of those areas; and what is his estimate as to when those levels will have fallen to the point where all restrictions on the movement of sheep can be removed.
§ Mr. HanleyThe soil-to-plant-to-animal transfer of radio caesium is complex and influenced by so many factors that vegetation levels would not be a reliable indicator on which to base firm conclusions. It is only through systematic monitoring of sheep populations in the restricted areas that appropriate data can be acquired to manage a restricted area. It is on the basis of such data that the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland was able to reduce the size of areas under restriction in Co. Londonderry. It is not possible to predict how long restrictions will remain in place. They will be lifted as soon as it is possible to do so without compromising the food chain, but we might still have to wait a considerable time before that is possible.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table showing the acreage in each of the areas of Glenshane, County Londonderry, Belraugh, County Londonderry, and Glenwherry, County Antrim named in SR(NI), 1991, No. 8 Public Health, Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) Order (Northern Ireland) 1991; if he will indicate the reduction in acreage in each case from the order superseded by this order, and the acreage at present under forestry plantations which were planted (i) before and (ii) since the discharge of radioactive material from Chernobyl; and if he will show for each of the designated areas the number of sheep kept on them.
§ Mr. HanleyThe information is as follows:
465W
Glenwherry Glenshane Belraugh Acreage in areas designated in SR 1991 No. 8 8,620 10,487 1,305 Reduction in acreage from SR 1987 No. 367 — 247 943 Number of breeding ewes in current restricted areas 7,000 14,000 1,300 Acreage under forestry in current restricted areas which was planted— (i) Before Chernobyl accident 165 1,099 — (ii) After Chernobyl accident 172 195 —