The Government is being urged to bring into law a grant scheme to assist householders protect their homes from radon gas.
The call coincides with the inaugural meeting of Irish National Radon Forum.
The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) estimates 91,000 Irish houses, or 7 per cent of homes contain unsafe levels of the radioactive gas.
Long-term exposure to radon gas is the second biggest cause of lung cancer in Ireland behind smoking.
Radon is a naturally occurring, radioactive gas formed in the ground by the radioactive decay of uranium, which is present in rocks and soils.
The forum is one of twenty national events being established across Europe, all of which will be linked to a European Radon Forum as part of a project funded by the European Commission.
The aim to increase awareness of the health risk posed by exposure to radon.
In order to encourage home owners to get their property checked, the Government has committed itself to a grant scheme in which the State would pay part of the cost of the remedial work involved.
The legislation was passed last February but the scheme still requires a ministerial order to come into force.
A spokesman for the Department of Environment told ireland.comthis afternoon the ministery had just inherited responsibility for the issue and that the grant scheme was under consideration.
