Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 10: To ask the Minister for Defence if he will report on the meeting he convened on 26 April 2005 of the task force on emergency planning; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17562/05]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 12: To ask the Minister for Defence the number of task forces or agencies with responsibility for national security and emergency planning; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17543/05]

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 19: To ask the Minister for Defence when the task force on emergency planning and the interdepartmental group on emergency planning last met; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17539/05]

Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 24: To ask the Minister for Defence if recent testing of emergency planning has taken place; if so, the findings of any such tests; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17554/05]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 10, 12, 19 and 24 together.

I express my condolences and sincere sympathy to the families and friends of those who died and were injured in the tragic road accident in County Meath last Monday. I visited both Navan and Drogheda that evening and the response to this incident has brought home to me, as chairperson of the Government task force on emergency planning, the professionalism of our frontline emergency services and other support services dealing with such incidents.

Emergency planning is a key focus of my remit as Minister for Defence and it was a sad coincidence that the Garda Síochána had planned two exercises this week to test inter-agency responses in scenarios similar to the incident that occurred on Monday. In light of the circumstances of this incident, these exercises have been postponed to concentrate resources where they were needed most. I have asked representatives of the Government task force on emergency planning to brief those present at the June meeting on the responses to this incident.

The Government task force was established in October 2001. The membership of the task force includes Ministers, senior officials, senior officers of the Defence Forces and the Garda Síochána and officials of other key public authorities that have a lead or support role in Government emergency planning. The work of the task force continues and there have been 38 meetings to date. It continues to meet on a regular basis, as required, and the last meeting was held on 26 April 2005.

The office of emergency planning was established, following a Government decision in October 2001, as a joint civil and military office within my Department. The office supports the work of the task force and continues to work with Departments and other public authorities to ensure the best possible use of resources and compatibility between different emergency planning requirements and to oversee Government emergency planning in general.

The interdepartmental working group on emergency planning supports the work of the task force and oversees and carries out studies of emergency planning structures and processes. It is a forum for developing strategic guidance to all those involved and for sharing information on emergency planning. The working group encompasses all Departments with lead roles in the various Government emergency plans and key public authorities, including the Defence Forces. The working group continues to meet on a regular basis, under the guidance of the task force, and is chaired by the office of emergency planning. It has met on 34 occasions. The last meeting was held on 7 April 2005.

The lead responsibility for specific emergency planning functions remains with the relevant Departments, as do budgetary, exercise programme and resource management requirements. Emergency plans are co-ordinated by the various lead Departments at national level and through the local authorities, including the fire service, the Health Service Executive and the Garda divisions at local and regional levels.

Departments and key public authorities involved in this process have particular responsibilities under eight strategic areas of Government emergency planning. In 2004 my officials met 13 Departments with responsibilities for emergency planning and four State bodies which provide key support functions. Each of these Departments has assured the office of emergency planning that it is addressing its emergency planning responsibilities and has plans and response arrangements in place to address large-scale emergencies in Ireland.

My approach continues to be that such responses must be characterised by effective management of all aspects of emergency planning and by a high level of public confidence in all the response arrangements. I am keenly aware of the public confidence issues involved in emergency planning. It is my objective that information being presented to both the media and the public be aimed at developing an understanding of emergency planning issues and the likely responses that any emergency may require.

Review and refinement of arrangements, including regular exercises, will ensure co-ordination of all those responding. This work and the deliberations of the task force include sensitive areas of emergency planning. It would not be appropriate to give detailed information about meetings of the task force. Responsibility for internal security is a matter for the Garda Síochána, with support, as appropriate, from the Defence Forces.

Testing and exercising of emergency plans is an ongoing critical part of the emergency planning function for each lead Department and for those agencies under their aegis. The task force is informed on issues arising from this continued work. As chairperson, I have requested all authorities to review their emergency plans regularly, revise them as appropriate and develop structured programmes to exercise such plans. The Garda Síochána will continue a series of regional inter-agency exercises. I am pleased with the level of co-operation across the various agencies involved. Findings from these exercises will be a matter for the Garda Síochána and my colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Issues arising are also matters for each Department concerned and those agencies under its aegis. Where co-ordination of emergency planning is a concern, this can be addressed by the Government task force.

I will continue to report regularly on a confidential basis to Government on emergency planning. I am pleased to report that there continues to be excellent co-operation between my Department and all other public authorities, as evidenced by the work of the task force, the working group and the office of emergency planning in these vital areas.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I thank the Minister for his reply and join with him in extending deepest sympathy to the families of the deceased and those who have been injured in the terrible bus accident in Navan.

On the national emergency plan, I understand there was an exercise in Youghal in March. I presume the success of this exercise was assessed at the task force meeting in April. I believe it involved the collision of a truck carrying hazardous waste with a bus carrying schoolchildren on the Youghal bypass. How successful was the exercise? Did the overcrowding in our accident and emergency units present a difficulty in dealing with the catastrophe? Where will the other three exercises take place and what kinds of exercises will they be?

A report stated the Minister for Defence does not have a central role and that he is not even on the committee of Ministers. Does the Minister believe he should have a more central role? There is a real need for reform in this area. In dealing with a major incident such as an explosion at Sellafield, do we not need a more co-ordinated and centralised approach? Exercises conducted in the past indicated that the emergency services would find it very difficult to cope with such an incident.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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On the first question, we discussed the results of the exercise in Youghal, which was code-named "Blackwater". By and large, it was very successful. Without going into too much detail, I can state there were some glitches pointing to a few areas where there is room for improvement. We are examining these. The purpose of such exercises is to determine what weaknesses exist in the system. The glitches did not concern accident and emergency units. I have asked the task force to create a schedule for the exercises planned for the next 12 months. I should have this shortly and will communicate it to Members, if that is satisfactory.

I am glad Deputy Gormley mentioned the report referring to my role. It reminds me that an article in The Irish Times made a number of critical suggestions in this regard. In the interests of transparency, I offered to write an article in response but The Irish Times did not see fit to accept it. I do not know why.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Minister writes for the Irish Independent.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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Perhaps The Irish Times does not like me. I do not know why. There were a number of inaccuracies in the article. I have a draft of the article I was to write in reply and I might let Deputy Gormley have a copy. The article suggested that, in the event of an emergency, a committee of Ministers would meet but would not include the Minister for Defence.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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That is what I said.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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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.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Is the Minister satisfied that we have the wherewithal to deal with a disaster at Sellafield?

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has a major plan for such.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Iodine tablets.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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Yes, and the Department of Health and Children has taken a number of steps. I will talk to this Department about incidents such as that mentioned by the Deputy. It is on the agenda for the next task force planning meeting. I will tell the Deputy more about the Department's preparations after that meeting but its officials assured me they are well prepared to meet public health concerns in the wake of such an eventuality.

Gerard Murphy (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I join the Minister in expressing sympathy to the families of the victims of the recent tragedy in Meath. As the Minister indicated, the entire situation involves an enormous task of co-ordination between the various agencies and Departments around the country. No doubt individually and in combination, the Garda, the Defence Forces, health workers, county council workers and a plethora of agencies, including the civil defence, do a tremendous job. The Minister has accepted that in other countries this area is centralised in the equivalent of the Taoiseach's office, and there is a good reason for this.

Here in Ireland each line Minister appears to have more responsibility. There may be cases where a given line Minister might not give something the priority, say, that the Minister for Defence would give it. Even though I accept that he is a persuasive man and can be stubborn as regards getting things done at times, he might not be as effective as the Taoiseach. Perhaps there is an argument to be made for a role for the Taoiseach's office in this whole matter.

Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I concur with the Minister and the other Members in conveying the House's sympathy to the family and relatives of the deceased in the County Meath accident. I know the Minister has spoken at length on this matter, but as was pointed out, it is taking too long to get decisions.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I accept what Deputy Gerard Murphy says. A plethora of agencies are involved in each individual case, whether in a train derailment, a bus crash or a chemical fall-out. Ultimately, three key agencies are involved, however. Departments here operate differently from those in other countries. One can debate endlessly what is the right approach, but here the lead Departments take their individual responsibilities. As regards how they are performing, that is precisely why the Government task force meets on a monthly basis, and the various Departments send their representatives. I have a series of questions to ask those representatives at each meeting and I invariably put them through their paces.