Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald unsure if Gardai used to combat terrorism have Arabic skills

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said she does not know if any gardaí tasked with combating terrorism can speak Arabic.

But she said gardaí had assured her that they have undergone “appropriate training exercises” for dealing with Paris-style attacks.

Speaking on RTÉ radio, she said that gardaí have to be “extremely alert and vigilant”, but repeated that the risk here was low.

The Irish Examiner reported last Saturday that, according to senior security sources, there was no one in the two Garda units tasked with tackling terrorism able to speak or read Arabic.

A Garda spokesman would only say to the Irish Examiner that the organisation had “linguistic capabilities to meet our needs”.

Ms Fitzgerald was asked on the News at One programme whether or not any garda security units had staff who could speak Arabic.

“That’s clearly an area there would not be a huge resource, but there is a resource available,” she said.

Asked how many gardaí could speak Arabic, she said: “I don’t have that number, that’s an operational matter for An Garda Síochána.”

Ms Fitzgerald said she did not need to know this level of detail: “What I need to know, and I have been in discussions with An Garda Síochána, these are operational matters.

“I have heard discussions in meetings in relation to language skills that are needed and are being used.”

The minister said gardaí have been involved in “sophisticated training” here and abroad, with the Defence Forces, for situations similar to Paris-style attacks.

“Gardaí have told me they have been involved in appropriate training exercises in recent times, with police forces in other countries and have done a number of training exercises,” she said.