Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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313. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he will provide details of the members of the national emergency co-ordination group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56339/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I chair the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning which coordinates emergency management policy across Government departments and agencies. The Office of Emergency Planning in my department provides a secretariat function to the Government Task Force. One of the tasks of the Office of Emergency Planning is to convene a meeting of the National Emergency Coordination Group within 1 hour of notification by a lead government department. For this purpose the Office of Emergency Planning maintains a list of the principal and deputy representatives to the Government Task Force from each government department and relevant agencies.

The Deputy may wish to note that a National Emergency Coordination Group is convened at the request of a Government department in response to a threatened or ongoing national-level emergency in the area of responsibility of that department. It is chaired by the Minister or senior official of that department. The National Emergency Coordination Group membership is the same as the Government Task Force with the exception of the Chair, which transfers from myself as Minister for Defence to the Minister or senior official from the lead government department responsible for the emergency in question.

At the behest of the lead government department, other agencies and stakeholders may also be called upon to attend a National Emergency Coordination Group. These could include, electricity transmission and generation providers, utility companies, sectoral regulators, etc.

Below you will find a list of departments and agencies represented at the Government Task Force and National Emergency Coordination Group:

Department of Agriculture and the Marine 

Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media 

Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth 

Department of Rural and Community Development 

Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications 

Department of Defence 

Department of Education 

Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science 

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment 

Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage 

Department of Foreign Affairs 

Department of Health 

Department of Transport 

Department of Justice

Department of Social Protection 

Department of An Taoiseach 

Department of Finance 

Department of Public Expenditure and Reform 

National Cyber Security Centre 

Geological Survey of Ireland 

Environmental Protection Agency 

Defence Forces 

Office of Emergency Planning 

Civil Defence 

Met Éireann 

Local Government Management Agency 

Office of the Government Chief Information Officer 

Office of the Revenue Commissioners 

Office of Public Works 

Health Service Executive 

Health and Safety Authority 

An Garda Síochána 

National Security Analysis Centre 

Government Information Service 

Irish Coast Guard.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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314. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if any meetings of the national emergency co-ordination group have taken place during 2022 to discuss the State's response to arriving Ukrainian refugees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56340/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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A National Emergency Coordination Group is convened at the request of a Government department in response to a threatened or ongoing national-level emergency in the area of responsibility of that department.

As Minister for Defence, my Department, and specifically the Office of Emergency Planning, has the responsibility to convene the National Emergency Coordination Group in the National Emergency Coordination Centre on behalf of the lead government department responsible for a particular emergency. The National Emergency Coordination Centre is maintained to the extent that it can be activated within 1 hour of tasking by the lead government department in order to hold a meeting of the National Emergency Coordination Group. 

At the time of writing, the National Emergency Coordination Group has not been convened to discuss the State's response to arriving Ukrainian refugees.