Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I am pleased to present this important legislation to the House. The Civil Defence Bill 2012 provides for the repeal of the Civil Defence Act 2002, the dissolution of the Civil Defence board and the transfer of its functions and other responsibilities back to the Department of Defence. The purpose of the Bill is to bring the management, development and administration of the Civil Defence at national level back into the Department of Defence, where it resided when the organisation was founded in 1950. In the context of current Government policy on bringing the functions of many State agencies back to their parent Departments, it has been decided that the functions of the board should return to the Department of Defence and specifically to a branch within that Department.

The board was established following the passage of the Civil Defence Act in 2002, the stated purpose of which was to update Civil Defence legislation generally and to establish a board to oversee and manage the future development of civil defence at national level. On a day-to-day basis the 2002 Act did not make any fundamental changes to the governing structures. Policy formulation remained with the Minister for Defence and the key relationship for effective civil defence operations between local authorities and the organisation at national level was not altered in any way.

I wish to put on record for the avoidance of doubt that the Bill will not alter the fundamental structures that have served the Civil Defence well over many years and supported the voluntary ethos that has been the hallmark of the organisation since its foundation.

I take the opportunity to express my sincere gratitude and that of the Minister for Defence, Deputy Alan Shatter, to each and every person who gave of his or her time to serve with distinction on the Civil Defence board and its statutory committees. I commend the board and its committees for their contributions to the ongoing development of Civil Defence in the past nine years in bringing forward plans and proposals which have driven the evolution of the organisation in that period. The day-to-day role of Civil Defence is to provide a range of supports for the front-line emergency services and community supports at local level. The training programmes and strategic development plans developed by the board in recent years have very much embraced that support role to front-line services across a range of activities. The benefits of these policies were very clear to communities all across the country during the severe weather in recent years in the comprehensive and sustained nature of the response from Civil Defence acting in support of all front-line services. The modern Civil Defence organisation, trained and equipped to the highest standards, is capable of assisting whichever of the front-line emergency services calls on it for assistance, as we recently witnessed when Wexford Civil Defence carried out a extensive search of Wexford Harbour for a missing person on Sunday, 18 November, with the support of other boats crews from the region. I commend Civil Defence for its work in that search.

I recognise and support all of the volunteers in their continued efforts to support local communities. The Bill will in no way diminish these efforts. In the future, as part of the Department of Defence, Civil Defence at national level will be fully integrated with the planning and implementation of our response capability for major emergencies. This will be achieved by working through the Office of Emergency Planning and the Defence Forces. It will be able to devote all of its energies to the core business of Civil Defence, namely, training volunteers to the highest professional health and safety standards. It will no longer have to devote valuable resources to complying with its own governance requirements. In the current economic climate I am delighted to say we have succeeded in maintaining the current level of funding for Civil Defence at €5.585 million per annum in the face of reduced funding to almost all other State bodies. It is our intention to maintain that level of funding in so far as it is possible to do so.

As I said during the recent debate on the Bill in the Seanad, it is worth repeating for the avoidance of doubt that the future development of Civil Defence will remain of paramount importance to me, the Minister and the Government. With that development in mind, a Civil Defence forum will be established after the Bill is enacted, comprising the main players in Civil Defence and members from the wider emergency response community. Central to these deliberations will be the critical involvement of representatives of the Civil Defence officers and volunteers based in each local authority area. The purpose of the forum will be to assist the Civil Defence branch of the Department to consider the major issues affecting or likely to affect its development.

I now turn to the main provisions of the Bill. Sections 2 and 3 deal with the dissolution of the Civil Defence board, the date of which will be set by order. Sections 4 to and 6, inclusive, will ensure the transfer of land, property, rights and liabilities, leases and licenses from the board back to Minister will take place. Section 7 ensures any claim in respect of loss or injury arising before dissolution will lie against the Minister, not the board. Furthermore, legal proceedings pending to which the board is a party will continue with the substitution of the Minster in the proceedings.

Section 8 makes provisions for functions commenced but not completed by the board before its dissolution. All functions partially completed will be carried on by the Minister. All moneys, stocks, shares and securities registered to the board prior to the dissolution date will be transferred to the Minister. The income of the board was derived from the grant-in-aid from the Defence Vote and no shares or securities were registered to the board.

Section 9 provides that the former director general of the board will submit, within six months of dissolution, the final accounts of the board to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit. Furthermore, he must also submit to the Minister the final annual report of the board within nine months. The Minister must, as soon as practicable thereafter, lay it before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The transfer of staff and the director general back from the board to the Department of Defence is dealt with in section 10, while section 11 ensures any contract or agreement in force before dissolution day between the board and any other person or body shall continue in force in the name of the Minister.

Section 12 deals with Civil Defence plans and sets out the requirement for local authorities to submit a plan within 12 months of dissolution to the Minister. The components of the plan are clearly set out for the authorities, as well as a requirement for them to review the plan within three years.

Section 13 amends section 221 of the Local Government Act 2001 to ensure annual reports prepared by local authorities will make suitable reference to the performance of their functions relating to civil defence, including the expenditure incurred by them in carrying out these functions. Section 14 continues the Department of Defence's grant of funds provided by the Oireachtas for the local authorities for the purpose of defraying expenditure incurred by the authorities in carrying out civil defence functions.

The recruitment of Civil Defence members by local authorities is dealt with in section 15, while the requirement for and the details to be contained within the Civil Defence members' register are outlined in section 16. Section 17 repeals the 2002 Civil Defence Act, while section 18 deals with the Short Title, collective citation and commencement.

This legislation will provide Civil Defence with the ideal platform to strengthen its capacity to continue to develop as a first class second-line emergency response service, while retaining its voluntary ethos and continuing with its community support activities. I am pleased to submit the legislation for the consideration of the House and look forward to hearing the views and contributions of Deputies in their deliberations and reflections on the Bill which I commend to the House.

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