A new group is to be established by the Department of Health to look at whether iodine tablets should continue to be distributed in the Republic in preparation for nuclear emergencies.
Iodine tablets were distributed to every house in the State in 2002 at a cost of over €2 million. They were to be used to top up the level of iodine in the thyroid gland to prevent the body absorbing radioactive iodine in a nuclear fall-out.
It transpired, however, that they would be useless for dealing with an incident at the Sellafield nuclear plant because they were only effective in the event of a leak of the radioactive isotope iodine 131, which Sellafield stopped handling some years ago.
In addition, the expiry date on the tablets distributed three years ago is March 2005, and the Department of Health wants the new group to determine if it is worthwhile having them renewed.
A spokesman for the Department said yesterday that the members of the new group were not yet decided upon. They would have a number of months to complete their work as new tests on the iodine tablets distributed in 2002 showed they could be effective for several months yet even though their manufacturers placed a March 2005 expiry date on them.
"A representative sample of iodine tablets was tested to determine whether the expiry date of March 2005 could be extended.
"The results indicate that, while the tablets show some deterioration, they would continue to be effective for a further period of nine months in the event of a major nuclear accident.
"The Department of Health and Children is establishing a group to review the continued use of iodine tablets as a countermeasure under the National Emergency Plan for Nuclear Accidents," the spokesman said.
The decision to issue iodine tablets in mid-2002 followed a radio discussion in 2001 when the minister of State with responsibility for nuclear safety, Mr Joe Jacob, outlined the State's planned response to an accident or an act of sabotage at Sellafield.
The iodine tablets were a key part of government strategy, Mr Jacob indicated, adding that the Department of Health would have stocks of them.
It took a further nine months before sufficient tablets could be posted to all households.