Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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404. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if the number of specialist explosive ordnance personnel has fallen from 24 in 2014 to 16 in 2017; if the number available for bomb disposal operations is 11 due to the fact the five remaining personnel are on training courses or serving overseas; and if the EOD section of the Defence Forces lost its capacity to deliver world class benchmark of expertise due to the fact his Department has no retention policy to keep qualified personnel. [18870/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Minister of State at the Department of Defence (Paul Kehoe T.D.): For security and operational reasons it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the disposition and specific Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) capabilities of the Defence Forces.

However, the military authorities have confirmed that, having regard to ongoing benchmarking with international organisations and Agencies in the field of EOD, no drop off in the Defence Forces performance or expertise has been noted.