An air exclusion zone over the chemical manufacturing centre at Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, and the issuing of 10 million iodine tablets are features of the State's forthcoming response to the September 11th attacks on the US.
The Government is about to complete a tender for the supply of the iodine tablets and these will be posted to every household in the State with a booklet explaining the role of the emergency services and informing people how they should react in the event of an emergency.
The Emergency Planning Task Force (EPTF) set up by the Government after September 11th is to engage in talks with the national and local broadcasting media about how to issue alerts to the public in the event of a catastrophe such as an attack on the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in Cumbria.
It is understood that the task force discussed what would happen if such an event occurred at night and that it has discussed the use of sirens and other "low technology" means of alerting the public.
The task force, chaired by the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, has met 13 times to review the state of readiness of the emergency services. The Minister has indicated that there is a need to ensure there are "no gaps" in the State's response to a national emergency. His first report has gone to Government and he will make further reports every three months on the progress of the preparations. He has established the Office of Emergency Planning to oversee the work.
Mr Smith is particularly concerned to emphasise that while the public should be prepared for most eventualities, there is no cause for panic.
The task force has received assessments from the Garda, the Defence Forces and Department of Foreign Affairs on the possibility of any international terrorist threat to the Republic, and the view is that there is none. There is also no foreseen threat of an attack on the Sellafield plant.
However, this has not precluded the decision to issue the iodine tablets along with information packs. It is expected that the proposed no-fly zone will be similar to the one which already exists over Portlaoise Prison. It is illegal to fly across such a zone and penalties include fines and possible loss of a flying licence.