Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. On the specific role of the national security committee, has it given consideration to a matter I raised with the Taoiseach previously, namely, the need for a bespoke security agency which would separate security considerations from An Garda Síochána, leaving the Garda as a policing organisation and taking all the elements of security it currently does, together with military intelligence, the national cybersecurity agency and others, into a bespoke security agency? Has this matter been discussed by the committee?

With regard to the facilities available in the event of a national emergency, a recent weather event caused a nationwide red alert. We have a national command centre, which I utilised on occasions in the past. Do we need to review the infrastructure we provide for a national emergency, whether it is caused by flooding, snowfall, an attack or a nuclear incident in the United Kingdom, to ensure we have a secure command centre that will direct our response to any security threat that might emerge?

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