Who to call in a crisis? A 10-year-old list... some agencies no longer exist

THE alert system hailed by government ministers for ensuring a rapid response to national emergencies is 10 years out of date.

And even though some of the state agencies listed as first responders to a crisis no longer exist, those involved in compiling the alert system have claimed there is no need to update the list.

In a further embarrassment, it has also emerged that a local authority distributed hand sanitising gel and wipes that were nine years out of date.

City and county councils abolished in 2014 – North Tipperary County Council, South Tipperary County Council, Limerick City Council, Limerick County Council, as well as Water-ford City Council and Waterford County Council – are still on the responders’ list. When the Irish Mail on Sunday first contacted Environment Minister Alan Kelly’s department about the outdated list, a spokesman said the department was not involved in compiling the responders’ list and he referred the MoS to the Major Emergency Management Office. When the MoS contacted the office they referred us to the Department of Defence which in turn referred us back to the Department of the Environment.

A spokesman for the Department of Environment said: ‘The list was written in 2005 and it was circulated in 2006 and we have no plans to update that, there is no need to.’

Fianna Fáil environment spokesperson Barry Cowen said he would have expected the list to be regularly updated. ‘Minister Alan Kelly said during the week that this has been the greatest response to an emergency ever seen but there has been no real co-ordination or leadership from a central point,’ Mr Cowen said.

‘I would have hoped and expected there would have been an office where people from various departments would be, so people would have a point of contact.

‘People are exhausted mentally, physically and financially and I fear the local authorities will not be compensated.’

Adding to the confusion, this weekend Athlone Council was forced into organising a recall of anti-bacterial products after the local authority admitted to the MoS that it could not guarantee residents were not being put at unnecessary risk.

A spokesman said: ‘These are alcoholbased hand sanitisers and they were bought in 2009 and there could have been others that were older.’

Earlier this week the IMoS established that sanitising gels and hands wipes with a best-before date of March 2007 had been given to families in Athlone who have been manning pumps for the past six weeks.

Organising a recall of anti-bacterial products