Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 484: To ask the Minister for Defence the number of people currently employed in a section of his Department and their specific roles (details supplied). [17162/08]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The Office of Emergency Planning was established in the aftermath of the tragic events of September 11th. It is a joint civil and military Office within the Department of Defence comprising of four Civil Servants and two Officers from the Defence Forces.

The Office has a number of distinct roles. These include the provision of administrative support to the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning and Chairing the Interdepartmental Working Group on Emergency Planning. The Office exercises an oversight role in relation to peacetime emergency planning to ensure the best possible use of resources and compatibility between different planning requirements. It promotes the coordination of emergency planning functions across all departments and other key public authorities. The Office also submits an Annual Report to Government on Emergency Planning. As part of a broader public information and awareness campaign on emergency planning, approved by the Government, the Office of Emergency Planning produced the handbook 'Preparing for Major Emergencies', which was circulated recently to every household in the country and it coordinated the accompanying media advertisement campaign. The roles of the individual staff are assigned according to the work requirements of the Office. The Head of the Office is responsible for overall management and policy direction and is assisted in this regard by the Deputy Head of the Office. Other members of staff carry out research and liaise with individual departments and agencies in the emergency planning area. They also provide support to the Government Task Force and the Inter-departmental Working Group on Emergency Planning.