asked the Minister for Transport and Power whether, in view of the increasing alarm of parents living in the noise zone of Dublin Airport, he is now in a position to state that permanent damage is not being done to their children's hearing.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Dublin Airport Noise.
22.
I have received no complaints from parents in the matter and I would refer the Deputy to my reply to his question of the 24th June, 1970. The Report of the Special Meeting on Noise convened by the International Civil Aviation Organisation to which I referred in my reply states that the criteria used for evaluating noise hazard to hearing suggest that current exposure to aircraft noise in the vicinity of aerodromes will cause no damage to hearing. The meeting recognised the need for medical and psychological research on the effects of long-term exposure to noise such as occurs in the vicinity of aerodromes. The results of such research will not be available for some time.
Is the Minister or his Department aware that there is already medical evidence available in France which would contradict what the Minister has said? It has been found in schools in France which adjoin airports that there is a greater incidence of ear injury than in other schools. Medical people suggest that there is no doubt at all as to how this injury is caused.
I did not say it was not a problem. In fact it is being investigated on an international basis in order to get all the facts about what medical and psychological damage is caused.