Terrorism laws under review

Six pieces of legislation are being examined to deal with terrorism, the Taoiseach told the Dβil. Mr Ahern also said that there had been "no notifiable case of anthrax anywhere in Europe in the course of this week". He added: "Biological warfare is a new issue with which we did not think we would have to deal. I am not saying everything is perfect - we must move quickly to ensure that we can deal with it in case it happens."

He said that the legislation dealing with sending hoax mail was being reviewed because it dated back to 1908. It was a "criminal offence to send a package containing any dangerous or obnoxious substance by post", but the problem was getting convictions.

Mr Ahern was replying to criticism by opposition deputies of the response to anthrax scares in the State on Wednesday. The Labour Party leader, Mr Ruair∅ Quinn, said that our anthrax defence had been exposed as a "shambles" in newspaper reports, which had shown "in fairly horrifying detail" the level of chaos in major hospitals.

Mr Quinn asked Mr Ahern to assure the public that somebody was in charge and to let people know how this individual could be contacted by telephone. The Taoiseach said that if a suspicious package or letter was received, the advice was to "place the package in a plastic bag or a sealed container in order to prevent leakage". The room should be evacuated and the Garda should be contacted.

He added that a specific protocol to deal with suspected anthrax attacks was in operation. It dealt with the procedures to follow, in particular "patient treatment, management, post-exposure and guidelines". The protocol was being issued to the fire service, the Garda, the Defence Forces and directors of public health. The guidelines were available at the Department of Health's website - www.health.ie.

Later, at Question Time, the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, was challenged to outline the State's response to a terrorist attack.

Mr Alan Shatter (FG, Dublin South) said that the Chief of Staff had remarked that the State had no airborne defence capacity. "If you learned this afternoon that a plane had been hijacked in Irish air space, that it was in Irish air space, and if there was concern that it was going to be used as a weapon to crash into people and buildings in this State, or in the United Kingdom, or in France, is there an arrangement in place with the British government which would allow us to call for assistance from the RAF to intercept such aircraft?" Mr Smith said that Mr Shatter was talking about a "doomsday situation".