Republic of Ireland

• Capital: Dublin
• Population: 4.2 million
• Language: English, Gaeilic

• 8 regional, 34 county and city and 80 town authorities
• each Government Department/ministry is responsible for civil protection planning in their area of activity
• the Minister of Defence chairs a national Task Force to co-ordinate response to nuclear, chemical and biological threats
• the Office of Emergency Planning in Department of Defence, has the coordinating role in meeting threats from terrorism and oversees peacetime planning, to make best use of resources and compatibility of plans
• the Department of Environment is responsible to manage & coordinate civil protection major emergency response at county and provincial levels between the 3 principal emergency services (ambulance, fire and police) which is an integral part of their daily service delivery
• each responding agency has it’s own agency major emergency management plan
• regions are moving from separate agency plans to single combined plans
• a major revision of national major emergency management infrastructures, protocols, plans and training is currently in implementation. All major emergency voluntary organizations including the Irish Red Cross are included as key component roles in national civil protection.

Irish Red Cross

• The Irish Red Cross was established by an Act of the Oireachas (the Irish parliament) and regulated under Red Cross Laws 1938-54. These statutes define a role for the Irish Red Cross as an auxiliary to the State authorities in times of emergency with a specific mandate to assist the medical services of the Irish Defence Forces in time of armed conflict
• by statute the President of Ireland is President of the Irish Red Cross. The Irish President has almost a wholly ceremonial function and has an extremely limited executive role
• the Irish Red Cross Chairman is appointed by the President on the advice of the Government. The Department of Defence is the line department of state associated with the organisation – a senior official of which sits on the Board of the Irish Red Cross
• Irish Red Cross membership (as of June 2009) is over 5,000 volunteers supported by a small professional staff (~40) with its Head Office in Dublin and
• three regional offices
• membership is country-wide with 145 branches with ambulance or SAR units in every county in the state. Volunteers are organised in local units with overarching county and regional structures
• the Irish Red Cross contribution during major emergency response is via the statutory primary emergency services (ambulance, fire and police). The Irish Red Cross role is to provide auxiliary capacity to the state ambulance service (by the Irish Red Cross ambulances); and to provide a small number of Red Cross search & rescue units to An Garda Siochana (the Irish police service) and the Irish Coast Guard
• the Irish Red Cross is the largest provider of first aid training to the public in Ireland, providing training courses in first aid, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation / basic life support and external defibrillation training, in agreement with the Irish Heart Foundation
• the Irish Red Cross provides emergency medical first response training, emergency medical incident management training, instructor training and psychological support to it’s own volunteers, staff and when requested, to the public.