Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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9. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of Civil Defence personnel by county; the shortfall in numbers in each county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12260/18]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The number of active Civil Defence volunteers in each county at the end of 2017 is as follows:

CARLOW63

CAVAN225

CLARE179

CORK CITY 95

CORK NORTH76

CORK SOUTH44

CORK WEST86

DONEGAL  129

DUBLIN434

GALWAY311

KERRY131

KILDARE62

KILKENNY  23

LAOIS89

LEITRIM36

LIMERICK157

LONGFORD 52

LOUTH38

MAYO78

MEATH221

MONAGHAN 64

OFFALY49

ROSCOMMON87

SLIGO107

TIPPERARY182

WATERFORD153

WESTMEATH100

WEXFORD 121

WICKLOW77

TOTAL3469

The Department of Defence is charged with the management and development of Civil Defence at national level. The Department provides policy direction, centralised training through the Civil Defence College, administrative support and guidance and centralised procurement of major items of uniform and equipment in support of local authority Civil Defence efforts.

Civil Defence services are delivered through the Civil Defence Officer (CDO) of the relevant Local Authority for that area. The CDO is a full time employee of the local authority and is responsible for the day-to-day management of Civil Defence matters under the overall direction of the relevant Chief Executive.

Civil Defence volunteers are recruited, trained and managed locally. It is for each Civil Defence Unit to determine the appropriate number of volunteers required in the Unit.  The Unit size varies between counties due to factors such as the population and geographic size of the county.  The presence or absence of other voluntary emergency service groups (such as the Order of Malta, St Johns Ambulance and the Red Cross) in a county has an impact on the size of the Civil Defence Unit. Civil Defence training has become increasingly professionalised in recent years and many Units have tended to favour having smaller numbers of more highly trained volunteers.