Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

It is incorrect. I wanted to correct this inaccuracy in the interest of public knowledge. I am on the committee.

There has been much talk about co-ordination. In some countries, the office of emergency planning is located in the office of the Prime Minister. In Ireland it is located in the Department of Defence. This is because our approach is different. The lead role is taken by each Department and we co-ordinate from the centre.

Since I took over as Minister for Defence, I arranged for the task force to meet monthly to ensure that it stays on top of its brief. There are three bodies involved. The Government task force lays out policy and states what must happen, the interdepartmental working group makes it happen and the office of emergency planning provides the administrative back-up. I shared some of Deputy Gormley's reservations when I was looking at this matter from outside. I used to ask what was happening and say the public does not know much about the process. However, from my experiences of chairing the meetings, I have been reassured in respect of the Departments' plans.

I will be making proposals to Cabinet shortly to increase public confidence in the emergency planning system.

See this speech in context