Mr. Dennis Keeley:

The determination of a major emergency can be made by either of the principal response agencies. There are dedicated personnel within each agency to do that. Within the fire service, a senior officer grade can call it. There is a directive within the Garda and the NAS There are written procedures on who can do it. There is a formal structure for how it is done. Each agency is very much aware that either an impending major emergency or an actual emergency has occurred. This links in with the Deputy's primary question. When the resources of a particular agency are in serious jeopardy, that can be a deciding factor that it is becoming a serious emergency and we can no longer cope as a single entity.