The first meeting of the Inter-Departmental Committee (IDC) on a tsunami warning system for Ireland took place on 15th March and the technical group that will advise the Committee met for the first time yesterday (26th March).
These meetings successfully brought together the departments and institutions that will have national roles in the tsunami warning system, from hazard mapping to instrumental detection to emergency response and mitigation. The system will not be operational before the end of May 2007: as noted in the Government Decision of 13th February, a detailed proposal developed by the IDC will be brought to Government for approval later in 2007. Installation of the physical infrastructure is likely to take some years.