Mr. Eoin Colgan:

In answering this question, I am drawing on my experience of having worked as an engineer and major emergency management officer for Galway City Council for three and a half years and having worked in the local authority system for five years. There is a full-time Civil Defence officer in every county which costs a significant amount of money every year plus the cost of their equipment and whatever.

As we are discussing the Civil Defence, I wish to draw the following to the attention of the committee. First, the Civil Defence has grown a lot in recent years since 9/11 in terms of budget, which was €5 million before the IMF came to town. The Civil Defence and the Irish Coast Guard, which has 1,000 members, carry out very good functions in response to major emergencies, local requests and other instances as an aid to the civil authority. The RDF can also respond to floods, gorse fires and weather incidents. In addition, the RDF can raise its response to a superior level because it is an armed service. We can be armed, if required.

Second, the Civil Defence, Coast Guard and such voluntary organisations do not have the same contractual obligations as the RDF. If a national crisis or major emergency lasts for more than a week or two, Civil Defence and Coast Guard members will get some sort of subsistence pay, but that will not be enough to pay their mortgages or feed their children and eventually they will have to go home. The RDF is contractually obliged and its members have enlisted. If the Minister sees fit to mobilise us full-time, then we are mobilised full time at the service of the State and subject to military law. We cannot go home and must remain at the scene. That is a personal risk we take as reservists and it could prove quite costly to us. That is the advantage of the RDF over organisations like the Civil Defence and Coast Guard. The RDF is on the hook, more or less, can be mobilised full-time and is at the full disposal of the State.