Calls for Jacobs to resign over emergency plan

Fine Gael frontbencher Mr Charlie Flanagan has called on the Taoiseach to sack Minister of State Mr Joe Jacob, after what the party described as "his disgraceful show of incompetence on the issue of a national emergency response" in a radio interview this morning.

Minister of State, Mr Joe Jacob

The Green Party also called for Mr Jacob to resign, describing his performance as that of "a rabbit caught in headlights".

While the Labour party criticised what it referred to as Mr Jacobs' "incompetence" and called on the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern' to show "immediate leadership" on the issue.

In an interview on RTE's Marian Finucane Show, the Minister for State at the Department of Public Enterprise said an information booklet on the State's National Emergency Plan in the event of a nuclear accident would be delivered to houses "weeks from now".

However, Mr Jacob refused to reveal the precise detail of the booklet when pressed on what people should do in the event of a nuclear accident in Sellafield, Cumbria.

"What we would do now is, first of all, an early warning system would tell us. And we would have this early warning system set up at a number of stages", Mr Jacob told the programme.

"In Ireland we have our own network of radiation monitors around the country. They will tell us and they will tell us automatically that they have detected an increase in radiation, because we won't see this".

"As soon as we get an alert that's where the thing steps into gear", Mr Jacob added.

He went on to say that in the event of an emergency people should "shelter" or stay indoors, cease drinking water and turn off ventilation systems and take iodine tablets. However he was unable to explain how the tablets would be distributed.

"Marian your question and the answer to it will be on my fact sheet which will be in every home in Ireland weeks from now".

A spokeswoman for Mr Jacob later said: "The Department of health would be distributing them very rapidly indeed" in the event of a nuclear incident.

Fine Gael's Mr Charlie Flanagan said Mr Jacob "has lost all credibility with the public after his pathetic performance".

"Instead of conveying clear and concise information on what action the public needs to take in the event of a nuclear disaster, Mr Jacob ended up frightening more people than he reassured with his pathetic performance".

"People in this country are depending on the Government to show competence and leadership for their safety. Minister Jacob has clearly lost the confidence of the Irish people and the Taoiseach must replace him with somebody who is up to the job", Mr Flanagan added.

The Green Party’s spokesman for nuclear affairs, Mr Trevor Sargent TD, claimed Mr Jacob "displayed a bizarre lack of serious interest in safeguarding the country from a terrorist attack on Sellafield".

Mr Sargeant said the Government obviously had no defined emergency evacuation prodedures, medical resources or contingency plans if Ireland were attacked.

"The Government is already increasing the likelihood of such a terrorist backlash by co-operating with a possible indiscriminate bombing campaign against innocent and impoverished people in Afghanistan."

The Labour party’s spokesman on Transport, Energy and Roads, Mr Emmet Stagg, said Minister Jacobs performance on the radio programme had only served to fuel public fears about the detail and provision of the emergency plan .

"It is beyond belief that confusion between a number of Government Departments on responsibility for the National Emergency Plan is so rife, particularly in the light of events in the United States two weeks ago," Mr Stagg said.

He repeated Labour’s call that all local, statutory, and voluntary agencies who would be involved in the Government’s emergency plans.

A spokesperson for Mr Jacob speaking to ireland.comrefused to comment about the RTÉ interview or calls for the junior minister's resignation.

However she said an emergency plan had existed since 1992 and is currently being updated to take account of technological advances.

She added that the plan catered for the eventuality of a category seven nuclear accident - the most severe type.