Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

The national framework is there. There is a framework for a local response. At any time, the local committee can get together and request the assistance of the Army or anybody else. Many such committees did not do so for reasons I do not know. It is ludicrous to talk about the Army being ready because they were involved in the flood crisis. The Army is an aid or back up when somebody asks it for help. If groups ask the Army for help, they must ask for help in a specific way and at a specific place. They might request the Air Corps to airlift fodder to cattle at a farm in Listowel because the owner is stuck. They might request that somebody be taken to hospital in County Waterford due to an emergency. In these cases, the Defence Forces get a specific task. It is ludicrous to think of the Army wandering around the country without being requested to do anything, like latter day Don Quixotes, seeking out damsels in distress, riding MOWAGs instead of horses, and deciding to vanquish dragons whenever they happen to meet them.

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