Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 66: To ask the Minister for Defence if members of the Office of Emergency Planning have expressed concern at the lack of funding being allocated to the group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38129/05]

Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The Office of Emergency Planning was established, following a Government decision in October 2001, as a joint civil and military office within the Department of Defence. The office functions as a branch of the Department and from within its overall annual budget allocation. The office supports the work of the Government task force on emergency planning, which is chaired by the Minister for Defence, and continues to work with Departments and other public authorities in order to ensure the best possible use of resources and compatibility between different planning requirements. A key area of activity is oversight of emergency planning, to refine and develop the arrangements that exist, to continuously improve them through review and revision, and to generally provide the basis for an increased confidence in the emergency planning process. The lead responsibility for specific emergency planning functions remains with the relevant Departments, as do budgetary, exercise programmes and resource management requirements.

The Department of Defence does not have a specific budgetary allocation for emergency planning as emergency plans are co-ordinated by the various lead Departments at a national level and through the local authorities, including the fire service, the Health Service Executive and the Garda divisions at local and regional levels.