Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, together.

The National Security Committee, which is chaired by the Secretary General to the Government, comprises representatives at the highest level of the Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Defence and Foreign Affairs and of the Garda and Defence Forces.

The committee meets as required and will continue to do so. Given the security nature of its work, it is not appropriate to disclose information about the dates of individual meetings. However, I confirm that it met on five occasions in 2004. In addition, its members liaise on an ongoing basis to monitor developments that might have national security implications, in particular in the international arena.

The committee is concerned with ensuring that the Government and I are advised of high level security issues and the responses to them, but not involving operational security issues.

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