Skip to main content
Normal View

Emergency Services.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 April 2004

Thursday, 29 April 2004

Questions (68)

Seán Ryan

Question:

65 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has satisfied himself that the attention of Irish groups responsible for civil protection, such as the fire brigades, are aware of commitments of personnel and resources they may be asked to make under the EU community action programme; if Ireland was able to respond to a recent request from the EU for assistance in the aftermath of the recent earthquake in Iran; if a request was made to the Dublin fire brigade; if it was able to provide the assistance requested; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12237/04]

View answer

Written answers

I assume that the question refers to the European Community mechanism adopted by Council decision 2001/792/EC on 23 October 2001 to facilitate reinforced co-operation in civil protection assistance interventions inside and outside the European Union. In this connection, I refer to the reply to Questions Nos. 954 and 955 of 27 January 2004 in which I outlined Ireland's current involvement in the EU civil protection mechanism and Ireland's response to the earthquake in Iran.

My Department informed Dublin fire brigade of the request but it was not in a position to send a search and rescue team at that time. My Department recently had an exploratory meeting with bodies, including Dublin fire brigade, that had indicated a willingness to participate in EU civil protection interventions, following their participation in training in 2004 under the mechanism. The meeting reviewed the current position and possible future development of Irish participation in such interventions.

Top
Share