Better to plan for major emergencies however unlikely they may seem

FIRST, SOME perspective: The Government does not think that a major national emergency is any more likely now than in the past. Of course the people of New York did not expect the awful events of September 11th, 2001, nor did the people of southeast Asia expect the tsunami. People do not expect the unexpected, writes Willie O'Dea .

So yesterday saw the launch of the Government's public information and awareness campaign on emergency planning. The campaign will see a handbook, Preparing for major emergencies delivered to each household across the country, starting from today. Our goal is to reassure and inform you, the public, so that you can have full confidence in the State's ability to respond to a major national emergency.

The sequence of events leading to this campaign began with the terrible events of September 11th. All governments had to take stock of their level of preparedness in the event of a national emergency. A decision was taken by the Cabinet to establish the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning and the Office of Emergency Planning to ensure that, in the event of a major emergency, Ireland had comprehensive plans in place that followed best international practice. Since that time, individual Government departments and agencies have been working on emergency plans to deal with a wide range of possible, though unlikely, situations.

These plans have been refined, sometimes with the assistance of overseas experts, other times through learning from experience such as in the case of foot-and-mouth disease. Indeed, in some areas, animal disease outbreaks included, Ireland is seen as providing the benchmark for other countries to follow.

Early in this process I commissioned public opinion research in Ireland. It was important to assess whether there was any public unease about the Government's state of preparedness. This found that the public had a strong desire to receive reassurance that the State has plans in place in the event of a national emergency. They did not want to be given full details of these plans, but they wanted to know that the Government was prepared for the unexpected.

This campaign is a response to this. The handbook gives an introduction to the Government plans, gives practical advice, first aid tips and some helpful phone numbers. It highlights that Ireland's response to major emergencies is based on the "lead department" principle - different departments or agencies take charge, depending on the situation. If for example a flu pandemic were to occur, the public health response would be led by the Department of Health and Children, with support from all other departments and agencies. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food would lead the response to an outbreak of an animal disease and so on.

No matter how unlikely we believe some of the scenarios in the handbook may possibly be, is it not better to know they have been planned for, so making it easier to stay calm and confident if one does take place.

Willie O'Dea is Minister for Defence

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times