Vol. 556 No. 4
98 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Defence if he will report on the work of the Government co-ordinating committee established after the USA bombing campaign began to oversee the state of readiness of the Government's emergency plans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20451/02]
The Government moved quickly and decisively to respond to the evolving international situation in the aftermath of the events of 11 September 2001. The Government's objective is to ensure that all State bodies can react quickly and efficiently to a large scale emergency. The Minister for Defence, as chair of the Government task force on emergency planning, intends that such responses would be characterised by effective management of all aspects of emergency planning and by a high level of public confidence in the response arrangements. The task force continues to meet regularly to review emergency planning and response issues and its role is to ensure a co-ordinated and effective response to large scale emergencies. The emergency planning office continues to provide a key support to the task force and co-ordinates the work of the interdepartmental working group on emergency planning to meet the new threats arising from international terrorism. The existing lead role of Departments and agencies in respect of specific emergency planning arrangements continues.
There continues to be a high level of co-operation between the Department of Defence and all other Departments and agencies through the new structures. These arrangements have provided the fora to significantly enhance the emergency planning process within all Departments and agencies and have helped to improve public confidence in the emergency planning process. As chair of the Government task force, I recently presented an annual report to Government on the work carried out since September 2001. On behalf of the Government, I thank those who have been actively involved across a range of disciplines, Departments and agencies in supporting the work of the task force. I will continue to report regularly to Government and to this House on the progress being made in this area.
