Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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520. To ask the Minister for Defence the number of suspect devices that the Army disposal unit has had to deal with to date in 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32379/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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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 (ATCP), assist An Garda Síochána when requested to do so. The Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Teams respond when a request is made by An Garda Síochána for assistance.

Up to 15 July 2014, EOD teams were deployed on 82 occasions and viable devices accounted for 30 of these callouts.

Other types of callouts would include hoaxes, false alarms, post-blast analysis, and the removal of unstable chemicals in laboratories.