John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I thank the Minister for his reply and join with him in extending deepest sympathy to the families of the deceased and those who have been injured in the terrible bus accident in Navan.

On the national emergency plan, I understand there was an exercise in Youghal in March. I presume the success of this exercise was assessed at the task force meeting in April. I believe it involved the collision of a truck carrying hazardous waste with a bus carrying schoolchildren on the Youghal bypass. How successful was the exercise? Did the overcrowding in our accident and emergency units present a difficulty in dealing with the catastrophe? Where will the other three exercises take place and what kinds of exercises will they be?

A report stated the Minister for Defence does not have a central role and that he is not even on the committee of Ministers. Does the Minister believe he should have a more central role? There is a real need for reform in this area. In dealing with a major incident such as an explosion at Sellafield, do we not need a more co-ordinated and centralised approach? Exercises conducted in the past indicated that the emergency services would find it very difficult to cope with such an incident.

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