A garda search is continuing for the gang who got away with €2.7m in an armed raid on a Brinks Allied Security van in north Dublin this morning.
The Minister for Justice has strongly criticised the security industry following this morning's raid.
Michael McDowell said there appeared to be a lapse in the ‘basic standards of professionalism’ which would be expected from a firm which is involved in the transit of large amounts of money.
Minister McDowell said he was deeply disturbed by reports that the raid took place while one of the security staff got out of the van to get coffee at a service station in Artane.
He said Ireland has to have a security system that measures up to international standards and today's lapse in these standards was not tolerable.
The raid took place at the Artane roundabout in Dublin at around 7.30am.
A number of armed and masked men held up the security van staff and forced them to hand over the cash. It is the second substantial security van robbery in just over two weeks.
Mr McDowell said he would be calling in industry representatives for talks in the next 24 hours.
Meanwhile, there is some confusion surrounding the exact timing of when a garda escort was due to accompany the security van.
The Branch Secretary of Security Services at SIPTU, Kevin McMahon, said it was his understanding that the van was to be accompanied by an armed garda escort when it left its base at Clonshaugh early this morning.
However, in a statement by garda this afternoon, they said that the escort was in place at the agreed location in Dublin city centre and was awaiting the arrival of the security vehicle.
