CBRNe World Convergence – All Hazards Response 2013
City West Hotel Dublin,
16th – 17th April 2013
Opening Address by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence,
Alan Shatter, T.D.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen; welcome to Ireland and welcome to Dublin. It is my great pleasure to open the CBRNe World Convergence – All Hazards Response 2013 conference and exhibition.
I would, particularly, like to welcome CBRNe World to Ireland as the world’s leading publication in the CBRNe field and its editor, Gwyn Winfield. Having hosted events like this twice yearly since 2008 in places as diverse as Singapore, the Hague, Rio de Janeiro, and Istanbul, I am delighted that they have chosen Dublin for the ‘All Hazards Response’ 2013 Conference. Bringing experts in the CBRNe field together for these conferences, CBRNe World strive to develop understanding and knowledge sharing in this area. It also provides an opportunity for you, the experts, to pass on your experience from one region to those in another.
CBRNe World personnel had an opportunity to see Irish CBRN expertise being utilised when they attended a Defence Forces exercise, titled "Contained Freedom", in Dublin port in 2011. This was a multi-agency exercise involving the Defence Forces, An Garda Síochána, the Dublin Port Authority, the Dublin Fire Service, the Civil Defence and Met Éireann.
Following this exercise we were delighted that CBRNe World decided to bring the ‘All Hazards Response’ conference to Ireland this year. I understand that experts have gathered today from the UK, the USA, Austria, Italy, France, Japan and Ireland to share their knowledge and expertise. I am sure the contribution by Colonel Iwakuma from Japan, who follows my opening remarks, will be of particular interest. He will, amongst other topics, talk about the impact of the tsunami on the nuclear plant at Fukushima, an event which had an international impact and made headlines throughout the world. This incident is an example to us all as to how a natural disaster can have very serious consequences in the CBRN spectrum and effect public safety in an unforeseen manner.
The field of CBRN is an area of growing concern for the international community. Responding to a major CBRN incident will entail a multi faceted response, requiring coordination and cooperation at all levels to ensure the safety of the public.
As a nation we have recognised this and have planned for such emergencies under our Framework for Major Emergency Management. All Departments and Agencies can be utilised in dealing with such emergencies and this Framework, together with our National Protocol for Responding to a Malign CBRN Incident, coordinates the required responses.
The European Union is also currently researching ways to progress this response through the Programme to Improve Co-operation in the EU for Preventing and Limiting the Consequences of Chemical, Biological, Radiological or Nuclear (CBRN) Terrorist Threats. Ireland as the current holder of the Presidency of the Council of the EU welcomes the overall aim of this EU Programme, which is to increase the efficiency of the measures taken at national and EU level with regard to terrorist CBRN threats.
In Ireland the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning is the primary State structure in place to support emergency planning and to improve coordination across the various existing national emergency plans. It comprises of those Ministers and/or senior officials of Government Departments and Public Authorities, who make a key contribution to the emergency planning process and is chaired by myself as Minister for Defence. The Task Force provides policy and direction, overseeing all emergency planning activities and promoting the best possible use of resources. The Lead Role for planning the State’s response to an emergency rests with the functional Minister and his or her Government Department, with support from other key Departments and Public Authorities.
The Department of Justice and Equality is the Lead Government Department for malign CBRN incidents, and nationally the initial response to an incident involving CBRN will be from An Garda Síochána (our police force), the Lead Agency. An Garda Síochána would then call for assistance from the Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Teams who are on call 24/7 and who deal with the normal range of Explosive Ordnance Disposal /Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (EOD/IEDD) calls. These Teams will deal with the incident and mitigate the situation if possible, utilising the compendium of specialised CBRN related equipment at their disposal.
If, however, the problem is beyond the scope and resources of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Teams the national response team, the CBRNe Improvised Device Disposal (IDD) Team, may be deployed. Ireland’s Strategic Emergency Planning Guidance document sets out each Departments and Agencies responsibility in such an incident.
City West Hotel Dublin,
16th – 17th April 2013
Opening Address by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence,
Alan Shatter, T.D.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen; welcome to Ireland and welcome to Dublin. It is my great pleasure to open the CBRNe World Convergence – All Hazards Response 2013 conference and exhibition.
I would, particularly, like to welcome CBRNe World to Ireland as the world’s leading publication in the CBRNe field and its editor, Gwyn Winfield. Having hosted events like this twice yearly since 2008 in places as diverse as Singapore, the Hague, Rio de Janeiro, and Istanbul, I am delighted that they have chosen Dublin for the ‘All Hazards Response’ 2013 Conference. Bringing experts in the CBRNe field together for these conferences, CBRNe World strive to develop understanding and knowledge sharing in this area. It also provides an opportunity for you, the experts, to pass on your experience from one region to those in another.
CBRNe World personnel had an opportunity to see Irish CBRN expertise being utilised when they attended a Defence Forces exercise, titled "Contained Freedom", in Dublin port in 2011. This was a multi-agency exercise involving the Defence Forces, An Garda Síochána, the Dublin Port Authority, the Dublin Fire Service, the Civil Defence and Met Éireann.
Following this exercise we were delighted that CBRNe World decided to bring the ‘All Hazards Response’ conference to Ireland this year. I understand that experts have gathered today from the UK, the USA, Austria, Italy, France, Japan and Ireland to share their knowledge and expertise. I am sure the contribution by Colonel Iwakuma from Japan, who follows my opening remarks, will be of particular interest. He will, amongst other topics, talk about the impact of the tsunami on the nuclear plant at Fukushima, an event which had an international impact and made headlines throughout the world. This incident is an example to us all as to how a natural disaster can have very serious consequences in the CBRN spectrum and effect public safety in an unforeseen manner.
The field of CBRN is an area of growing concern for the international community. Responding to a major CBRN incident will entail a multi faceted response, requiring coordination and cooperation at all levels to ensure the safety of the public.
As a nation we have recognised this and have planned for such emergencies under our Framework for Major Emergency Management. All Departments and Agencies can be utilised in dealing with such emergencies and this Framework, together with our National Protocol for Responding to a Malign CBRN Incident, coordinates the required responses.
The European Union is also currently researching ways to progress this response through the Programme to Improve Co-operation in the EU for Preventing and Limiting the Consequences of Chemical, Biological, Radiological or Nuclear (CBRN) Terrorist Threats. Ireland as the current holder of the Presidency of the Council of the EU welcomes the overall aim of this EU Programme, which is to increase the efficiency of the measures taken at national and EU level with regard to terrorist CBRN threats.
In Ireland the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning is the primary State structure in place to support emergency planning and to improve coordination across the various existing national emergency plans. It comprises of those Ministers and/or senior officials of Government Departments and Public Authorities, who make a key contribution to the emergency planning process and is chaired by myself as Minister for Defence. The Task Force provides policy and direction, overseeing all emergency planning activities and promoting the best possible use of resources. The Lead Role for planning the State’s response to an emergency rests with the functional Minister and his or her Government Department, with support from other key Departments and Public Authorities.
The Department of Justice and Equality is the Lead Government Department for malign CBRN incidents, and nationally the initial response to an incident involving CBRN will be from An Garda Síochána (our police force), the Lead Agency. An Garda Síochána would then call for assistance from the Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Teams who are on call 24/7 and who deal with the normal range of Explosive Ordnance Disposal /Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (EOD/IEDD) calls. These Teams will deal with the incident and mitigate the situation if possible, utilising the compendium of specialised CBRN related equipment at their disposal.
If, however, the problem is beyond the scope and resources of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Teams the national response team, the CBRNe Improvised Device Disposal (IDD) Team, may be deployed. Ireland’s Strategic Emergency Planning Guidance document sets out each Departments and Agencies responsibility in such an incident.
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