Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 32: To ask the Minister for Defence if he is satisfied that sufficient personnel are in place in the Border region in view if the recent information regarding dissident activities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23239/10]

John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 52: To ask the Minister for Defence if, in view of the increased threat of dissident violence on the island of Ireland, additional Defence Forces resources have been allocated to the border regions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23477/10]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Question Nos. 32 and 52 together.

The primary responsibility for the maintenance of law and order rests with An Garda Síochána. The Defence Forces, pursuant to their role of rendering aid to the civil power, assist An Garda Síochána as required. The Defence Forces, in conjunction with An Garda Síochána, keep the threat level under continual review.

The military authorities have informed me that, having regard to the threat level and other security considerations, they are of the view that there has been no increase in the threat level in the Border region which would warrant the deployment of additional resources generally to the area. There has also been no request from An Garda Síochána for additional assistance such as would warrant a general increase in the level of personnel deployed in border areas.

In relation to EOD teams, the locations of the explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams are under constant review with the teams being positioned to service areas of greatest demand. There have been 78 EOD call-outs nationwide so far this year with 23 of those call-outs being hoaxes. Of that number, 5 were call-outs in the Border area with two being hoaxes. This represents a very small percentage of overall call outs for the EOD teams. However, the Defence Forces have put in place a number of measures that should reduce the response times for the EOD teams across the country. This includes the pre-positioning of some equipment in the Border region.