Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)
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I refer to the need for the bomb disposal unit to be brought back to Finner, County Donegal. I appreciate that the Minister of State is in the House. So far on in the peace process, the last thing anyone in the Border region or County Donegal wants to do is to seek more security. My call comes as a result of a number of specific incidents as well as the general situation. When Officer Steven Carroll was murdered along with two British soldiers earlier this year everything moved closer to home and when this happens people tend to focus on the danger that a small number of dissidents, who are very effective, can pose. On 11 September, a pipe bomb was found in Donegal. This was a viable device and while people were told at 7 a.m. about the device, it was not until midday that the bomb disposal unit arrived in Donegal from Athlone. We are glad the unit was there and that it defused the viable device but in respect of the economy of the area everything was closed for five hours while waiting for the unit.

Given the geographical area, the distance between Donegal town and Finner is very short and, had the bomb disposal unit been in Finner, the matter would have been dealt with much faster. The device was viable and, had it exploded, it would have been too late to wait for the bomb disposal unit. There could have been consequences to this.

I also want to consider what happened in the middle of September. The mayor of Donegal County Council, Councillor Brendan Byrne, received death threats because he sought a memorial to those murdered in Mullaghmore to be situated in Donegal, overlooking the location where the murders took place. At some times and in some countries, one could look at this as being only a death threat on a piece of paper but we cannot afford this luxury and we must take this seriously. It is wrong that we cannot move the peace process on by understanding that others in this country have different perspectives. We should learn to live with each other and with those who hold different perspectives.

A 600 lb bomb in South Armagh was found but had moved from South to North. As a person who drives frequently through the North and as someone who knows many people living in the North, I am concerned. Security is now as tight as it was many years ago. It was unusual for me to be asked for my driver's licence at a checkpoint late at night last week. I cannot remember the previous occasion on which I was asked for it. It is a very bad sign that we need to have the police out. I commend the police on being out but I do not commend the reasons police officers need to be. I would like to think that policing and justice will be devolved to the North soon and they will become issues that can be dealt with there. I like to think we will be in a position to get over the fact we have dissidents and that people will continue to provide information to police officers to ensure the dissidents are demobilised.

The Minister of State may not be aware we saw another side of the police service at the weekend which was much more what we want to see in this era of peace and tranquility to which we aspire. The Garda was involved in a GAA tournament in south Belfast with the PSNI, the London Metropolitan Police and the New York Police Department. The Garda team won on this occasion and it was great to see a Gaelic tournament in south Belfast with police forces from various jurisdictions attended by the Northern Ireland Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure, Nelson McCausland. That Fachtna Murphy and the new police chief constable were there is what it should be about and where we should be at.

Unfortunately, I am raising this matter on the Adjournment because we are not at the stage we want to be and we need to consider returning the disposal unit to the heart of the area where it can reach more locations faster than being based in Athlone. If I was being honest I would like to think the Minister for Defence would consider the barracks at Letterkenny and Lifford which were closed recently. If the security threat is deemed to be as high as it seems to be, perhaps we should review the situation on the Border.

Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I am taking the Adjournment on behalf of the Minister for Defence, Deputy Willie O'Dea. The primary responsibility for the maintenance of law and order rests with the Garda Síochána. The Defence Forces, pursuant to their role of rendering aid to the civil power, assist the Garda as required. The explosive ordnance disposal, EOD, team responds when a request for assistance is made to the relevant brigade by a member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank of inspector.

EOD teams are on call throughout the country 24 hours a day, seven days a week to deal with any suspicious objects or devices that are identified. EOD teams operating in their role as aid to the civil power provide a unique response capability within the State to deal with such incidents. This capability has been developed over many years in operational environments at home and overseas. EOD teams have been provided with significant training and specialised equipment to allow personnel to operate safely in dealing with incidents involving suspect devices. Historically, EOD deployments have been subdivided out to formations that have the territorial responsibility for a particular area. With the onset of violence in Northern Ireland, additional teams were deployed along the Border. The EOD team based at Finner Camp provided the western brigade with a rapid deployable EOD capability in response to subversive activity within its area of Border responsibility. The team was deployed on the basis of evaluation and assessment of the then existing threat.

The Defence Forces EOD assets are deployed in proportion to current operational requirements, which are in turn informed by ongoing intelligence and threat evaluation. In recent years, the assessments by the Defence Forces, in consultation with the Garda Síochána, suggested that threat levels in the region had reduced to such an extent that the requirement to have an EOD team based permanently in Finner Camp was no longer warranted. The statistical evidence provided by the Defence Forces shows that EOD call-outs are now predominantly urban-based in areas such as Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford. The emphasis has moved from subversive to criminal activity-based EOD call-outs with attention focused in the larger cities. The figures for 2008 show that of a total of 180 EOD call-outs, the eastern brigade responded to 111, the southern brigade responded to 37, the Defence Forces Training Centre responded to 12 and the western brigade responded to 20. Only three of the 180 call-outs related to the Border area of the western brigade which stretches between Donegal and Cavan.

The EOD team does not deal solely with suspect devices. The 180 call-outs responded to in 2008 included assistance with the removal of old ordnance, the disposal of so-called time expired pyrotechnics, and flares and objects washed ashore. To date in 2009 there have been only five EOD call-outs in the Donegal area, one of which related to the disposal of fireworks. The security situation prevailing in the Donegal area is assessed as not requiring an EOD team committed full time in the area.

As part of an ongoing review of operational activity and, in particular, aid to civil power operations, the Minister for Defence, Deputy O'Dea, agreed in November 2008, having considered the advice of the military authorities, that EOD resources could be utilised more efficiently in the western brigade area by relocating the EOD capability from Finner Camp to Custume Barracks, Athlone. Pre-deployed equipment and vehicles remain located at Finner Camp. This EOD cover is similar to that provided to other Border areas. This rationalisation of EOD capacity provides for more efficient, effective and economic use of EOD personnel, resources and equipment having regard to the area to be covered and the predominant locations where call-outs occur. The placement of the ordnance officer in brigade headquarters also provides the ordnance officer with greater operational and administrative back-up in respect of his duties for the entire brigade area.

The conditions which pertained in the Border area during the Troubles are generally absent today and do not require the same resource commitment as heretofore. In the event of a need to react urgently to an emergency situation, the EOD team can be moved rapidly from Custume Barracks to Finner Camp.

There are well-established channels of consultation and co-operation between representatives of the Defence Forces and the Garda Síochána. EOD operations are discussed at regular meetings of the improvised explosive device working group. The Defence Forces also liaise with the Garda Síochána in the technical analysis of evidence recovered from EOD operations. The Defence Forces, in conjunction with the Garda Síochána, keep the threat assessment under continual review. The Minister, Deputy O'Dea, has been informed by his military officials that they are of the view that there has been no increase in the threat level to warrant the redeployment of the EOD team to Finner Camp, despite recent incidents in Northern Ireland.

Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for her reply. In her final sentence she stated:

The Minister for Defence, Deputy O'Dea, has been informed by his military officials that they are of the view that there has been no increase in the threat level to warrant the redeployment of the EOD team to Finner Camp, despite recent incidents in Northern Ireland.

We are concerned that there has been an increase in incidents in the Republic of Ireland, in which Donegal is located. While there might have been only five call-outs, they were for viable pipe bomb devices. Where were other viable pipe bomb devices found in the country? It is not always about the quantity but about the quality. If the quality of the threat is high then the quantity is not as significant and that is why we ask for resources to be placed in Donegal. I accept that the situation is under review and I implore the Minister of State to be conscious that Northern Ireland has its difficulties and in September 2009, for the first time in quite some time, Donegal saw two incidents which we did not like. We are concerned that if we are not able to react faster than five hours, someone will be killed or injured.

Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator and I will pass on her comments to the Minister.