John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 17: To ask the Minister for Defence the number of task forces or agencies which have responsibility for national security and emergency planning; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25947/05]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Defence, I am responsible for the Department of Defence's emergency planning objectives, which are to promote the co-ordination of emergency planning functions across all Departments and other key public authorities and to oversee the emergency planning process in general. In pursuing this objective, I chair the Government task force on emergency planning, which comprises Ministers as well as senior officials of Departments and public authorities which make a key contribution to the emergency planning process. The task force, which is a top level structure that offers policy and direction, co-ordinates and oversees the emergency planning activities of all Departments and public authorities. It promotes the best possible use of resources and compatibility between different planning requirements. The interdepartmental working group on emergency planning comprises officials representing Departments and public authorities with lead or principal support roles in Government emergency plans. The task force charges the working group with carrying out specific studies and developing particular aspects of emergency planning. The working group is the vehicle through which expertise is shared between Departments and public authorities on emergency planning. The working group continues to address emergency planning matters to reduce the potential impacts of emergencies on this State.

The office of emergency planning in the Department of Defence supports the Department's emergency planning objective and the Government task force on emergency planning. The office chairs the interdepartmental working group on emergency planning. The lead responsibility for specific emergency planning functions remains with the relevant Departments. Responsibility for internal national security is a matter for the Garda, with support as appropriate from the Defence Forces. The national security committee is concerned with ensuring that the Taoiseach and the Government are advised of high-level security issues and the responses to them, but it is not involved in operational security issues. It is chaired by the Secretary General to the Government and comprises the Secretaries General of the Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Defence and Foreign Affairs, the Garda Commissioner and the Chief of Staff, and their respective deputies. It would not be appropriate to give detailed information about the meetings of the committee, but it meets regularly as required and its members liaise on an ongoing basis. It continues to monitor developments which might have security implications, particularly developments in the international arena.

Potential threats to the State arising from international terrorism are continuously monitored by relevant parties, principally the Garda and the Defence Forces. The advice available to me is that while the Garda authorities recognise that the terrorist threat to Europe is high, in relation to Ireland it is low. The awareness that the situation could change rapidly and with little warning has ensured that vigilance is maintained. The objective has been, as far as possible, to confine and control threats before they translate to destructive actions. Those charged with precautionary activities, principally the Garda and the Defence Forces, are central to the process. They analyse information to assess potential vulnerabilities and enable those charged with protecting the public to concentrate scarce resources in the most effective way.