Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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843. To ask the Minister for Defence the number of suspect devices that the army disposal unit has had to deal with to date in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46314/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Primary responsibility for the maintenance of law and order rests with An Garda Síochána. The Defence Forces, pursuant to their role of rendering Aid to the Civil Power (ATCP), assist An Garda Síochána when requested to do so. The Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Teams respond when a request is made by An Garda Síochána for assistance. Up to 30 October last, EOD teams have been deployed on 220 occasions during 2013. Viable devices comprising of improvised explosive devices and the disposal of conventional munitions accounted for 69 of these callouts.

Other types of callouts would include hoaxes, false alarms, post-blast analysis, and the removal of unstable chemicals.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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844. To ask the Minister for Defence the number of cash-in-transit escorts carried out by Defence Forces to date in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46315/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Primary responsibility for security matters rests with An Garda Síochána. The Defence Forces, pursuant to their role in rendering Aid to the Civil Power, provide armed escorts for certain cash movements within the State when requested to do so by An Garda Síochána. This year, the number of cash in transit escorts provided by the Defence Forces up to 30 October last was 1,678.