Hospitals, schools and crΦches will not be included in an exemption from planning permission for mobile phone antennas on public buildings, Mr Dempsey, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, said yesterday.
The concession followed stiff opposition from Fianna Fβil TDs, along with other members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Environment.
Speaking before the committee yesterday, Mr Dempsey said he appreciated the "concern that some members of the public" had about mobile antennas.
Mr Dempsey held early morning talks with a number of Fianna Fβil TDs, including Laois/Offaly's Mr Sean Fleming, Wicklow's Mr Dick Roche and Cork North Central's Mr Billy Kelleher.
Following this meeting, he guaranteed that he would produce proposals early in the new year to ensure that mobile antennas keep within their radiation emission limits.
"I accept the argument that the public needs reassurance that the emission limits are not breached after planning exemptions are granted," he declared.
But he told TDs: "You can't just accept everything that every local group says about antennas. The fact of the matter is that all the scientific data shows that antennas are not a danger. I accept that is not a popular thing to say in a hall with 300 people."
Mr Kelleher told the meeting: "We have to be able to tell residents' groups that an antenna is within its emission limits and is safe, or that it is not and that it will be moved."
Mr Dempsey's ability to deliver on his promise quickly is open to dispute, however, because the Office of the Direction of Telephone Regulation (ODTR) controls emission standards, and not him.
But the ODTR, warned Mr Fleming, has managed to carry out annual inspections on just 20 of the 4,000 antennas currently in use by Eircell, Digifone and Meteor.
Despite the last-minute changes, mobile companies will be able to place antennas on other public and commercial buildings without planning permission.
In addition, planning regulations will for the first time demand that all antennas will have to meet the emission standards laid down by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Though partially satisfied, Mr Roche criticised the ODTR: "It is more driven by the industry than I would like it to be."
The 300-page Planning and Development Regulations are needed to operate last year's Planning and Development Act and will be passed without debate by the Dβil today.
Despite last-minute pressure from TDs, the Minister refused to back down on his intention to charge €20 (£15.75) to lodge planning objections.
"I do not believe that a fee of €20 will deter any person, or body, who has genuine concerns in relation to a planning application," said Mr Dempsey.
The public is getting better rights under the regulations, he argued: "Before, their objection could be thrown into the bin. Now they will have to be involved at every stage in the process." Public representatives will also have to pay this fee when they make formal written submissions, though they will not be charged for "general inquiries".
Planning notices will have to be carried more prominently at every entrance to a site in future, rather than just one, while succeeding applications will have to be displayed in a different colour.
