Emergency management
5 items
How the fire service, An Garda Síochána and the HSE work together at major emergencies, and the national arrangements above them. Published by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Defence on gov.ie. The Hub briefing explains who does what.
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A Framework for Major Emergency Management
How An Garda Síochána, the HSE and local authorities prepare for and work together at major emergencies. Adopted by Government in 2006.
Read the Hub briefing →The national arrangements for major emergencies: declaring a major emergency, the lead agency, Controllers of Operations, the On-Site Co-ordinator, site management and cordons, and co-ordination at local, regional and national level. Under review: the NICS 2026 manual already refers to a new Framework for Emergency Management.
A Framework for Major Emergency Management: Appendices
The appendices to the 2006 Framework, including the lead agency table, site management, tabards and a glossary.
Read the Hub briefing →Includes the pre-nominated lead agency for each type of emergency (Table 7.1), decision making mandates, co-ordination centres, site management arrangements and cordons, identification of personnel, mobilising outside resources and dealing with fatal casualties.
A Guide to Preparing a Major Emergency Plan
Guidance Document 2 in the Major Emergency Management series, January 2010.
Guidance for the principal response agencies on writing their Major Emergency Plans: plan activation and mobilisation procedures, the standard plan format and common pages.
Strategic Emergency Management: National Structures and Framework
The national, Government level arrangements for emergencies. Approved by Government in July 2017.
Sets out the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning, the lead government department principle, the National Emergency Coordination Group, and national risk, planning, response and recovery. It sits above the Framework for Major Emergency Management, which guides the local and regional response.
Strategic Emergency Management: Annex A, lead government departments
The updated list of which government department leads for over 50 types of emergency. Agreed March 2026.
Revised Annex A to the Strategic Emergency Management framework, setting out the lead government department for each emergency or incident type, from severe weather and flooding to nuclear and radiological emergencies, pandemics and cyber incidents.
