Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The last point is with regard to the earthquake in Türkiye and Syria. Of 27 EU countries, 21 of them deployed small rescue and medical teams in-theatre. Ireland was one of the six countries that did not. Many teams even came from beyond the European Union. A team even went from Ukraine. Should we consider having small search-and-rescue and medical stand-by teams of five, six or ten people? Other countries seem to be well capable of doing it. We have the organisations. We have the Civil Defence and Reserve Defence Force. Probably more importantly, we have the rapid response corps from the Department of Foreign Affairs, which has been very effective over the last decade or so. It is mandated to deploy and intervene post-crisis. It sends small teams in twos and threes and works with NGOs on the ground.

The question is whether we should consider having slightly larger teams on standby embedded in that panel for the rapid response corps, so if there is a tsunami, an earthquake or a flying disaster, we can put people on the ground. I appreciate we gave €10 million and we deployed pre-positioned stores from Brindisi and the Middle East. However, the ultimate expression of solidarity is actually boots on the ground and it is something we should consider. It would certainly help with the recruitment for the rapid response corps, Civil Defence and Reserve Defence Force if the international component was included. Those are my three points.