The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII), An Institiúid Éireannach um Chosaint Raideolaíoch, was an independent public body in Ireland under the aegis of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. The RPII was established in 1992 under the Radiological Protection Act 1991, which conferred on the RPII a broad remit in relation to radiological protection in Ireland. The RPII was merged with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in August 2014, as part of the Irish Government's Public Sector Reform Plan. RPII's functions are now carried out by the Office of Radiation Protection and Environmental Monitoring within the EPA.The general functions of the ORP are:The RPII was the successor to the Nuclear Energy Board which was formally wound up by the Radiological Protection Act 1991.
The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) is responsible for ensuring that workers and members of the public are adequately protected from the harmful effects of ionising radiation. This is achieved through licensing users of ionising radiation and through periodic inspections of licensees. There are currently 1707 licensed users of ionising radiation in Ireland, the majority of which are dental practices (946). During 2012 the findings of 88 dental practice inspections carried out in 2010 and 2011 were analysed to assess the overall radiation safety standards within the dental sector following the requirement for dental practices to appoint Radiation Protection Advisers in 2007. This analysis looked at the commissioning, quality assurance (QA) testing and licensing of dental X-ray units, issues outstanding from QA testing, servicing policy for dental X-ray units, availability of local rules and other miscellaneous issues arising from RPII inspections. In general, compliance with licence conditions and relevant radiation protection legislation was good within the sector and RPII inspectors were satisfied with the overall standard of radiation protection in the majority of the dental practices inspected.
The RPII issued a document in March 2009 entitled ‘Guidelines for reporting radiological incidents to the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland’. Article 41 of the Radiological Protection Act, (Ionising Radiation) Order [S.I. No. 125 of 2000] requires the undertaking to immediately notify the RPII of any loss, larceny or other misappropriation of any radioactive substance, nuclear device or irradiating apparatus. This Article also requires notification in the event of a release, or likely release, of a radioactive substance which could give rise to significant contamination. In addition to the requirements of the legislation, licensees must also adhere to the conditions the RPII attaches to each licence which also include a requirement for the licensee to report any damage to, leakage from or other incidents involving a licensed item as soon as possible and at the latest within 24 hours. Furthermore, all reportable incidents must be investigated by the licensee with the following objectives: -To establish the sequence of events leading to the incident; -To identify the cause of the incident; -To decide upon and implement remedial action to prevent a recurrence; -To estimate the dose received by all persons involved in the incident.
