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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 23 Nov 1995

Vol. 458 No. 7

Written Questions. - Civil Defence Manoeuvres.

Theresa Ahearn

Question:

14 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Defence if he will report on the recent Civil Defence manoeuvres held throughout the country; if he visited the locations of action; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17110/95]

Civil Defence hosted its annual national exercise entitled "Community Endeavour `95" at Clonmel, Blarney, Castlebar and Westport on 21 October 1995. This exercise is part of a Civil Defence development programme "Towards 2000" which was launched in 1992.

I had the pleasant task of visiting each location on the day. Upwards of 1,000 volunteers with more than 100 mini buses, ambulances, jeeps and fire engines, including a wide range of rescue equipment, participated in varying tasks in emergency response exercises

Each team on site employed their own particular skills in solving the many complex problems presented. I have no doubt that the new skills and expertise acquired will be passed on to the organisation at large. These exercises also provided a forum to foster a closer spirit of co-operation with the other emergency services, such as the fire service, health boards, Garda and the other voluntary agencies.

The local authorities who sent the volunteers deserve our congratulations for their ongoing commitment and dedication to Civil Defence.

I wish also to congratulate all the volunteers and their Civil Defence officers for the efforts displayed during the day. They were most impressive and gave me a greater appreciation of the tremendous resource which Civil Defence is in supporting local communities.

This national exercise allowed the organisation to further appraise its development programme which is committed to enabling Civil Defence to provide a more effective community support to the primary emergency services.

I am currently having a mid term review carried out of the "Towards 2000" programme. In consultation with all concerned this review will reflect on the work to date and plan for the remainder of the decade.

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