Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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To ask the Minister for Defence the number of occasions on which Defence Forces personnel carriers were deployed in relation to civilian peace keeping operations; and the cost of these exercises. [39525/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The primary responsibility for the maintenance of law and order rests with An Garda Síochána. However, one of the roles assigned to the Defence Forces in the White Paper on Defence (2000) is to provide Aid to the Civil Power (ATCP) which, in practice, means to assist An Garda Síochána when requested to do so. Armoured personnel carriers, which can carry up to 11 personnel in each vehicle, are deployed mainly in peace support operations overseas as a force protection measure. They are not normally deployed in the course of ATCP activities in this State.