Mr. Robert Morton:

The NAS is part of the health family. There are structured processes in place in the wider HSE. There is a national crisis management team, which would be called upon straight away, chaired by the chief executive. There are area crisis management teams, where the broader range of supports is brought into place, including acute hospital, public health and community health colleagues all coming together, as well as people involved in procurement. Whoever needs to be at the table is there. Every resource available to the HSE is called upon. In the event that the HSE needs to engage with other services, we do. The plans provide for that. The three principal response agencies of the State are the local authorities, the HSE and An Garda Síochána. They exercise their response through their principal emergency services, which are the ambulance service, the fire service, and the gardaí. Those plans are in place. They are well structured. We have a great degree of competence in our frequency of practice of those processes.