IRISH Marine Minister Noel Dempsey today announced that the Government has decided to form an inter-departmental committee to draft proposals for the creation of a tsunami warning system for Ireland as part of an internationally co-ordinated system.
The committee will comprise several Government departments and relevant agencies such as Met Eireann, the Geological Survey of Ireland and the Marine Institute.
The International Oceanographic Commission (IOC), in cooperation with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), is currently coordinating international efforts to deliver an initial system in the North East Atlantic and Mediterranean by end 2007 which will focus on linking up national systems.
“Although the probability of a tsunami along Irish coastlines is statistically very small, the European Union has decided to fast track a number of initiatives aimed at predicting such events. The decision today to form a national inter-departmental committee to develop a fully designed and costed proposal for the Irish early warning system will feed into the international efforts currently underway in this area. Specific proposals for the implementation of the system will be brought to Government for approval later in 2007,” Mr Dempsey said today.
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