Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for that clarification. When one reads the figures it looks as though there has been a drop. If there is a waiting list, I cannot figure out why we cannot take those people on, encourage them and train them so that they are available during the next weather event or whenever we need the Civil Defence again. I understand the local authorities' role but there must be some way to do this, because the goodwill is there. In regard to the Civil Defence, I note the praise throughout country for the role that it played, the number of vehicles it deployed and the people it rescued, including personnel of other emergency services. That shows the value of the Civil Defence. If we cannot get volunteers to join the Defence Forces we should get them to join the Civil Defence at the very least, so that they are available in a crisis such as that of last week.