Bomb disposal teams which operate on a 24 hour basis are stationed at five centres; Dublin, Cork, Athlone, the Curragh and Finner Camp. The position has changed in the last 21 years. If there is an emergency at Shannon, the team based at Athlone or Cork would be called in. I am informed by the experts that in terms of bomb disposal there is an unwritten rule to hasten slowly. Therefore, it is not a question of the team being available in five minutes. In respect of Limerick, I checked the number of requests from Shannon for the team in recent years and between January 1992 and December 1994 there were only two calls — one was a false alarm and the second was to assist in the safe disposal of a civilian helicopter flare. This decision taken will in no way affect security arrangements at Shannon. The use of helicopters in the event of an emergency would greatly reduce the length of time it would take to travel from Cork or Athlone to Limerick — by using normal transport means the team could be there within three hours.
Many areas would like to have access to a bomb disposal unit. Before this decision was taken a great deal of consideration was given to the matter, particularly on security grounds. There will be no diminution of the service afforded to Shannon as a result of locating the unit in Cork. If, for security reasons, I believed the team should be relocated in Limerick I would have no hesitation in providing for that, but on the advice I have been given I am satisfied the decision is right.
