Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 November 2013
135. Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Minister for Defence if there is any funding opportunity within his Department for voluntary emergency response organisations such as search and rescue organisations that respond to call-outs in remote areas of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48423/13]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware my Department has responsibility for the management and development of Civil Defence at national level. Civil Defence is the principal statutory volunteer based organisation in Ireland with over 4,600 active volunteers who are based in each local authority area. The role of Civil Defence is to provide second-line support to the frontline services in responding to emergencies across a wide range of disciplines such as Casualty/First-Aid, Rescue, Boating, Communications and Welfare in addition to providing community support activities. In the current year my Department provided a total of €4.243m in funding to Civil Defence to support the efforts of the volunteers in assisting with emergency response efforts nationwide.
The Irish Red Cross Society is an independent charitable body corporate whose volunteers provide Ambulance Services, Search and Rescue Services and a broad range of community based health, social care and youth programmes across the country.
My Department supports the valuable work carried out by the Society's volunteers through the provision of a grant in aid, which currently amounts to €739,000 per annum. This grant is provided as a contribution towards the salary and administration costs of running the Society's headquarters.
It is my intention, despite the current economic climate, to maintain that level of funding to both organisations to support their emergency response efforts.
