Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 October 2022
343. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Defence the amount that the Defence Forces spent on purchasing chemical biological, radiological and nuclear suits for the Permanent Defence Forces in 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form. [48236/22]
View answerUnder the Framework for Major Emergency Management the Defence Forces can be tasked in aid of Civil Power to provide operational support in a response to a national chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incident in order to mark, cordon, monitor, measure, decontaminate, retrieve and dispose of any CBRN devices and matter so found. Additionally, the Defence Forces in the context of overseas deployments may be required to operate in CBRN environments.
As outlined in PQ 7135/22 there was no direct expenditure in 2021 on CBRN suits. The table of expenditure as set out below for 2021 in the sum of €44,250.60 has been spent on essential CBRN platforms and ancillaries during that period in order to maintain CBRN capability. The expenditure covers such items as consumables, filters, spare parts, decontamination lotion and servicing necessary to maintain ongoing CBRN platforms. The figure for 2022 amounts to €120,614.20 which provides for the sum of €23,419.20 for suits and €97,195.00 for testing of suits with a view to the identification of an effective solution for the replenishment of the entire Defence Forces CBRN stock of suits.
Specific details of the essential CBRN platforms and ancillaries are subject to normal operational security reporting restrictions and are not disclosed for operational security reasons.
Table 1 – CBRN Support Expenditure
|
2021 |
2022 |
Total |
|
€44,250.60 |
€120,614.20 |
€164,864.80 |
