The Department of Justice and Equality and An Garda Síochána have primary responsibility for the internal security of the State. Among the roles assigned to the Defence Forces in the White Paper on Defence is the provision of Aid to the Civil Power (ATCP) which, in practice, means to assist An Garda Síochána when requested to do so.
The Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams respond when a request for assistance is made by An Garda Síochána in dealing with a suspect device. The number of EOD callouts, which include viable devices, hoaxes, false alarms, post-blast analysis and the removal of unstable chemicals in laboratories, dealt with up to 19 July 2016, by county, are set out in the following table:
County
|
No. of suspect devices
|
Carlow
|
1
|
Cavan
|
2
|
Clare
|
1
|
Cork
|
8
|
Donegal
|
1
|
Dublin
|
25
|
Galway
|
4
|
Kilkenny
|
1
|
Laois
|
3
|
Limerick
|
1
|
Louth
|
2
|
Mayo
|
2
|
Monaghan
|
1
|
Tipperary
|
1
|
Waterford
|
2
|
Westmeath
|
1
|
Total
|
56
|