The Government is giving priority to upgrading the voluntary Civil Defence force and will pass legislation to effect new measures before the end of its Dáil term.
The "second-line" emergency services of Civil Defence are being upgraded at a time when the Government is reorganising and rethinking emergency plans following the September 11th attacks in the United States.
The Government Chief Whip and Minister of State for Defence, Mr Séamus Brennan, yesterday published the Civil Defence Bill 2002, updating the second World War legislation which established the corps of volunteers. A new Civil Defence Board is to be established, which the Minister intends will provide an upgraded service with autonomous decision-making on training and administration.
Mr Brennan expects the legislation to be in place by the start of the summer. He also hopes the reforms will attract new members, particularly young people. The Civil Defence has about 6,000 members, but membership has been declining and the age profile rising.
The Republic is one of the few Western states to maintain a voluntary Civil Defence structure. Its role is to provide support for fire brigade, Garda, Defence Forces and ambulance services in times of emergency. More commonly, members are called to assist the gardaí and other services at major events or in emergencies.
Mr Brennan said the Civil Defence was one of the great institutions of the State. Its members display tremendous dedication and enjoyed camaraderie and a full social life.
He continued: "It is not unfair to say that we had all this planned before the world got more conscious of terrorism. If it was needed before that time, it's much more needed now.
"We hope we never have to deal with the kind of situation we have seen in the United States or in the Middle East, but the whole world is now in a state of consciousness about terrorism and that makes it more important for Civil Defence to be more sensitive to any possible event or difficulty. They need to be constantly prepared, trained and ready to go at an hour's notice to support the emergency service. We want to see their motivation kept at a peak at all times."
The new Bill will update the old Air Raid Precautions Acts of 1939 and 1946, which established the Civil Defence corps during the "Emergency".
It will establish a Civil Defence Board to "oversee, supervise and co-ordinate the operations and future development of Civil Defence in co-operation with, and in support of, all of the major emergency services, and to advise the Minister on policy issues".
Also this year the 30 administrative and technical staff at Civil Defence Headquarters in the Phoenix Park will be decentralised to Roscrea, Co Tipperary.
The budget for Civil Defence is being increased by €2 million to €5 million.
During the Cold War period of the 1950s and 1960s the role of Civil Defence was to prepare to assist the emergency services in the event of nuclear attack.
The last time Civil Defence was activated in an emergency capacity was in the early days of the Northern Troubles, when members provided care for displaced people and helped the Garda and Army in dealing with security situations. This experience led to its present community support role.