COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

MOTION NO. 7

MOTION: Councillor C. Keane

"That this Committee discusses with the aid of a report the co-ordination of the Emergency Response Unit/team as it relates to the Rathfarnham Area Specifically. e.g. personnel/points of contact etc. etc."

REPORT:

South Dublin Council has a Major Emergency Plan in place which sets out the arrangements which will facilitate  South Dublin County Council's response to any Major Emergency. The main body of this plan is on the Council Website  www.sdcc.ie for public view. The appendices to the plan are on the intranet and this contains all contact details of the Crisis Management Team,  relevant officers , Fire Brigade and other Agencies such as Gardai, Health Service Executives and Dublin City Council. Emergency telephone numbers for Fire Brigade and South Dublin County Council are in this plan. In addition to this we also have a Crisis Management Plan. This is a working document that is prepared to outline the procedures to be followed in dealing with a crisis. The Plan sets out the arrangements which will facilitate South Dublin County Council 's (SDCC)  response to a Crisis. The plan assists SDCC in making quality decisions during times of crisis.   A formal protocol for activation of Crisis Management Team ( CMT) has been developed. In this document a crisis is defined as:

A crisis is any unplanned event that can cause deaths or  significant injuries to

Employees/ members of the public etc or

a) can shut down or disrupt SDCC’s operations,

b) cause physical or environmental damage,

c) or threaten the organization’s financial standing or public image (IAEE).

A crisis is defined as a significant business disruption which stimulates extensive news media coverage. The resulting public scrutiny will affect the organization’s normal operations and also could have a political, legal, and financial impact on its business (Institute for Crisis Management).

As seen from the above all these plans cover the whole administrative area of South Dublin County Council. We do not have specific plans for different areas of the county such as the Rathfarnham Area. We have an overall Emergency Plan and Crisis Management Plan that will enable South Dublin County Council to respond to any crisis in any part of the county in a coordinated manner.