Mid West T.D. and Minister for Defence, Tony Killeen today chaired his first meeting of the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning at the National Emergency Coordination Centre.
The Task Force is the high level group which is made up of the Ministers and/or senior officials of all Government Departments and key public authorities that meets to share information and to assist coordination of emergency planning across Government. There have been a number of incidents in a short space of time, the pork dioxin crisis, the flu pandemic, flooding, snow and ice and the volcanic ash.
This morning the Task Force received an update from the Department of Transport in relation to the management of the volcanic ash situation.
Minister Killeen acknowledged the speedy response of all of the relevant Departments and Agencies to the crisis.
He noted that the National Emergency Coordination Centre was activated and that a Volcanic Ash Task Force was established and met on the day that the situation arose. He also noted that regular coordination meetings that have taken place since then chaired by the Department of Transport, and he said that the updates and briefings provided have helped to keep the public up-to-date and should continue to be managed in a coordinated way.
The Task Force was also briefed on the flooding and severe weather emergencies that occurred in late 2009 and early 2010.
Minister Killeen paid tribute to the Principal Response Agencies, the Defence Forces, Civil Defence, other voluntary groups and local communities who had worked tirelessly to alleviate the worst effects of these events.
He said that, as in all emergency situations, lessons can be learned.
The Minister noted that the relevant Departments and Agencies are carrying out reviews of how they responded to these weather events and he looked forward to considering these at Task Force.
Minister Killeen said: “I would urge all Departments to implement any recommendations arising from their reviews as soon as possible.”
The Task Force is the high level group which is made up of the Ministers and/or senior officials of all Government Departments and key public authorities that meets to share information and to assist coordination of emergency planning across Government. There have been a number of incidents in a short space of time, the pork dioxin crisis, the flu pandemic, flooding, snow and ice and the volcanic ash.
This morning the Task Force received an update from the Department of Transport in relation to the management of the volcanic ash situation.
Minister Killeen acknowledged the speedy response of all of the relevant Departments and Agencies to the crisis.
He noted that the National Emergency Coordination Centre was activated and that a Volcanic Ash Task Force was established and met on the day that the situation arose. He also noted that regular coordination meetings that have taken place since then chaired by the Department of Transport, and he said that the updates and briefings provided have helped to keep the public up-to-date and should continue to be managed in a coordinated way.
The Task Force was also briefed on the flooding and severe weather emergencies that occurred in late 2009 and early 2010.
Minister Killeen paid tribute to the Principal Response Agencies, the Defence Forces, Civil Defence, other voluntary groups and local communities who had worked tirelessly to alleviate the worst effects of these events.
He said that, as in all emergency situations, lessons can be learned.
The Minister noted that the relevant Departments and Agencies are carrying out reviews of how they responded to these weather events and he looked forward to considering these at Task Force.
Minister Killeen said: “I would urge all Departments to implement any recommendations arising from their reviews as soon as possible.”
