Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh gach duine. I want to start by conveying my complete appreciation and that of the committee for all the staff and volunteers at departmental level and in the uniformed services. It is an outstanding effort. We say of the Civil Defence that they always turn up and they do, particularly with Covid-19 and the Ukrainian crisis. It is hugely appreciated. I have a few questions to rattle through. I am not sure who will want to take them. I will leave that in the witnesses' capable hands. The first is about governance.

Civil Defence is a little unusual in that it falls between two Departments. That seems to be working quite well but, normally, it would either be under the Department of Defence or the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Are the representatives happy with that arrangement? Should a lead Department be designated? Maybe they are happy with how things are. I have a second question on governance. I totally appreciate the local ethos of the Civil Defence but if there was a large emergency, God forbid, is there a national commander of the Civil Defence, either in Newbridge or elsewhere? If there is not, is that something the Government should consider?

I am intrigued by the performance of the Civil Defence in recruitment and retention. It has approximately 2,500 people and is keeping that number quite stable. Its sister agency, the Reserve Defence Force, RDF, is in the opposite situation at present. Many barracks have been closed in the past 25 years and the footprint for the RDF has completely collapsed. Is it fair to say a factor in recruitment and retention for the Civil Defence is it has that local ethos, has a base in each local authority and is maintaining it? The second part of the recruitment question, from an RDF perspective, is that trying to get into the RDF is like getting into Fort Knox at present. There is a medical, a fitness test and reams of paperwork. Will the representatives outline how easy it is to get into the Civil Defence? Does it have all those bureaucratic steps or does someone just show up, express an interest and get stuck in?

On training, there is a civil protection understanding across Europe, where units train together and cross-train internationally. Does the Civil Defence engage with like-minded units, either civil defence or civil protection, abroad? Does it send people abroad to train? Does it accept international students to Roscrea, for instance, for training? If it does not, is it something it might like to explore and consider? I will follow on from that in conjunction with Senator Craughwell's contribution. I have previously mentioned, and I recognise it is easier said than done - the earthquake scenario in Turkey is probably a better example rather than just Syria - but Ireland did not send any boots to be on the ground there at all. Is that a role the representatives see the Civil Defence potentially filling? Are they in favour of it happening in principle? If they are, what steps will be required to ensure Ireland is in a position to provide Civil Defence people abroad to deal with the next natural disaster?

I am intrigued by the Civil Defence promotion system. How does it train its leaders? Does everybody join at the lowest volunteer level? Is there a leadership training programme, for instance, that would bring people to the higher levels?

Hopefully, we will never need to use the Civil Defence radiation monitoring service, but we are aware of what is happening in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. It is in occupied hands at present and is the largest nuclear facility in Europe. How up-to-date is Ireland's national radiation monitoring service? Is it something we need to monitor before things get any worse?

I am also intrigued by the Civil Defence's drone technology. It has really embraced drone technology from a search and rescue point of view. Where are we with the drone programme? How effective is it? That is probably enough questions, if that is all right. I very much appreciate it.