Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The Government is satisfied that the necessary structures are in place to obtain, assess and act on intelligence concerning the threat posed by terrorism, including international terrorism. The highest priority continues to be placed by the Government and the security services on identifying and countering any threats that may have implications for this country. Obviously, there is ongoing liaison both bilaterally in terms of working with other intelligence services and also in the context of Europol and Eurojust, which is another indication of the importance of the European connection in this matter in terms of security and justice matters generally. Given the nature of terrorism and what it represents, there are absolutely no grounds for complacency. One must be mindful of the need to continue to monitor to the greatest possible extent. There are no guarantees in this line of work but, as I said, we are satisfied the necessary structures are in place to obtain, assess and act on intelligence and considerable resources are devoted to that effort. This has become more complex in view of the international nature of it. The source of that terrorist activity has changed. Clearly, it poses continuing challenges in terms of being able to track people who may be suspect or who may need to be monitored for any period they happen to be here. That depends very much on the level of co-ordination with services outside this jurisdiction.

A significant effort is being applied internationally and within the European Union also to deal with that matter. I do not think it serves any purpose for me to say any more than that since it is an operational matter dealt with by those charged to deal with it who are expert in that area and who have considerable experience, unfortunately, in terms of our own domestic situation in trying to keep tabs on some of these activities.

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