Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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20. To ask the Minister for Defence when the next meeting of the national emergency co-ordination committee will take place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52904/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Government Task Force on Emergency Planning, which I chair, includes senior officials of Government Departments, senior officers of An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces and officials of other key public authorities, which have a lead or support role in Government emergency planning. The Task Force meets on a regular basis. So far this year there have been five meetings of the Task Force and the next meeting is scheduled for Monday, 16 December 2013. While details of matters discussed at meetings of the Task Force are confidential, I can confirm that the Task Force examines current risks and supports coordination arrangements for emergency planning across the whole of Government.

The Task Force is regularly briefed on such matters as the current security threat, which is provided by An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces. It also receives regular updates specifically from the lead Government Departments. An example is the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, which chairs the National Steering Group under the Framework for Major Emergency Management, and is the lead Government Department in eleven of the forty two emergency scenarios identified in the Lead, Principal and Other Support roles. The Task Force regularly addresses other emergency planning issues ranging from risk assessment to training and exercises as well as receiving regular briefings on current issues from the various lead Government Departments on their specific roles and responsibilities and their associated work programmes.

The Task Force establishes Subgroups from time to time to specifically look at particular areas of emergency planning that may need to be addressed.