Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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665. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if the Defence Forces have participated in carefully planned live field exercises with An Garda Síochána in view of assessing the State’s contingency capability for effective co-ordinated responses to terrorist incidents and ensuring it is fit for purpose; if so, if such exercises have been followed by immediate professional lessons identified and lessons learned processes; the number of times such exercises have taken place in 2016 and to date 2017; the number of Defence Forces personnel involved in each of the exercises; and if such exercises are planned in the future. [25819/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Primary responsibility for the internal security of the State rests with the Department of Justice and Equality and An Garda Síochána. Among the roles assigned to the Defence Forces in the White Paper on Defence (2015) is the provision of Aid to the Civil Power (ATCP) which, in practice, means to provide assistance and support to An Garda Síochána when requested to do so.

The security environment is kept under constant review including the threat from international terrorism. On-going coordination and liaison meetings take place between the Defence Forces and An Garda Síochána and, based on on-going threat assessments, the Gardaí and the Defence Forces liaise with regard to possible Defence Forces supports required for a range of contingencies. An Garda Síochána can request a broad range of supports from the Defence Forces including Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams and the Army Ranger Wing. In this context, I can confirm that there is very active cooperation between An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces.

An Garda Síochána take the lead responsibility for exercises where the Defence Forces act in a support role to An Garda Síochána. Following such exercises a review is carried out and the lessons learned feed into future planning in order to enhance support and interoperability. The Defence Forces will continue to engage fully with An Garda Síochána in this regard and will also continue to undergo training so as to ensure effective interoperability.

Given that these exercises are led by An Garda Síochána, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on their specific details. For security and operational reasons, the specific number of Defence Forces personnel engaged in these exercises will also not be released.