Planning guidelines should be amended to ensure that mobile phone masts are not located near schools, playgrounds or health centres, according to a report due to be published this week.
The report, compiled by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, also criticises the agency in charge of monitoring radiation emissions from mobile phones for not knowing exactly how many masts are sited in Ireland.
The report recommends that responsibility for monitoring emissions be transferred from the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) to the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII), a State body that monitors other forms of radiation such as radon.
The report, Non-ionising radiation from mobile phone handsets and masts, was prompted by public concern over mobile phone technology. It makes more than 10 recommendations.
One recommendation is that planning guidelines should be amended to prevent the erection of masts close to sensitive places such as schools, health centres, pitches and playgrounds.
Local authorities currently decide their own guidelines, and there have been recent protests against masts that are close to sensitive areas.
The report also recommends that the Government appoint an independent board to review the latest scientific data on the health impact of emissions.
All mobile masts and handsets emit non-ionising radiation, a type of radiation that uses low power to transmit energy. Several international reports into mobile phone handsets and masts have not found conclusive evidence it damages health.
However, the report details a submission from the Irish Doctors Environmental Association that says 1 per cent of the population are electrosensitive - they feel unwell when close to electricity or radiation.
The report says it is concerned that there should be a balance between the users and those who suffer ill health from the use of either a mobile phone or because they reside near a mast. It recommends that a mobile phone users' group be set up to address the concerns.
One of the report's core recommendations is that responsibility for monitoring mobile emissions be transferred from ComReg to the RPII.
A ComReg spokesman said yesterday he could not comment on a report that was not published. However, he said the agency knew where every mobile phone mast was located within the State.
Last week ComReg said there were 4,500 masts.