Vol. 521 No. 5
78 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Defence if, in regard to the commitment in the review of the Action Programme for the Millennium, he will outline the specific proposals he has for the development of the Civil Defence with a view to providing services at community level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17481/00]
As outlined in the recently published White Paper on Defence, one of its objectives is to set out the basis for the future development of civil defence policy and to build on the Towards 2000 programme on civil defence launched in 1992. In this regard the Civil Defence will continue to be developed as a top class provider of second line emergency services through the local authority structure.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the organisation the Government allocated an additional £500,000 for civil defence activities in the current year. This increased funding will continue for future years to enhance the equipment and training of the organisation.
