Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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831. To ask the Minister for Defence the number of suspect devices that the army disposal unit dealt with in 2013; the number to date in 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12948/14]

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. All EOD callouts are treated as suspect devices until post operation analysis. EOD teams were deployed on 250 occasions during 2013 and viable devices accounted for 81 of these callouts. Up to 18 March 2014, EOD teams were deployed on 28 occasions and viable devices accounted for 11 of these callouts. Other types of callouts would include hoaxes, false alarms, post-blast analysis, and the removal of unstable chemicals in laboratories.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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832. To ask the Minister for Defence the number of cash-in-transit escorts carried out by the Defence Forces in 2013; the number to date in 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12949/14]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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835. To ask the Minister for Defence if it is the intention of senior management in the Defence Forces to remove the Defence Forces from escort duties for cash-in-transit deliveries. [13661/14]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 832 and 835 together.

Primary responsibility for security matters 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. The Defence Forces, pursuant to their ATCP role, provide armed escorts for certain cash movements within the State on request by An Garda Síochána. The number of cash-in-transit escorts provided by the Defence Forces in 2013 and up to 18th March in 2014 is as follows:

Operational details in relation to any aspect of these cash escorts cannot be disclosed for security reasons.