Seán Hogan, the chairman of the National Emergency Response Committee, is a senior civil servant with an expertise in emergency and fire management extending back 20 years.
Mr Hogan, a civil engineer, is the national director for fire and emergency management in the Department of the Environment. He was previously principal fire officer in the department.
Mr Hogan also developed the State’s major national emergency framework, involving the department, local authorities, and other agencies including the Garda Síochána and the HSE.
Mr Hogan said yesterday that it was the committee’s job to support “what the local authorities are doing. If there’s barriers and we can remove them, that’s what we do”.