Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the current position in Pakistan and the tragedies unfolding in Central America. I join others who have offered their sympathy to the President and people of Pakistan and to the ambassador here. I also warmly welcome the indications of assistance from the Government so far.

What has struck everybody is the vulnerability, in particular, of remote villages which cannot be accessed easily following an earthquake of this scale. It raises the issue of the urgency that attaches to the establishment of a disaster prediction agency and of such an agency being available in more than one location. This issue came to the fore immediately after the tsunami and the view of the experts, within the United Nations and elsewhere, is that we need the capacity to make a regional response. It is urgent that we make progress on this. It is also important that we accept, given the disposal of the populations at risk, often with only single road access, that air transport is required in the immediate aftermath if we are to respond to disasters quickly. This points to the necessity of having a rapid reaction force to handle disasters.

This disaster provides an opportunity to respond generously and in a concerned way. It was very moving to hear of the manner in which people from the different communities of Kashmir, India and Pakistan living abroad shared in their concern for people at home. I offer my sympathy on behalf of the Labour Party and of most of the Irish people.

It is important that we are able to respond and can put aside any sense of weariness. I welcome the Government's pledge of €3 million for Pakistan and its disposal of that money. I make the case, however, that we need to look at the medium-term situation and at what must be achieved through the international agencies, particularly the United Nations.

I am much more familiar with the region of Central America. The areas that have been affected by Hurricane Stan include Guatemala, El Salvador, southern Mexico and Nicaragua. I have visited Central America many times. It would be a great pity if, because of the general problem of aid weariness and the fact that this region is not being covered by the international media, this disaster was driven out by images from another part of the world. It would be appalling and morally unacceptable if we had to choose between disasters to which to respond.

This has happened before — Hurricane Mitch struck the region in 1998. The last disaster in Central America, involving El Salvador, among other countries, was in 2001, when mudslides wiped out entire villages, which is happening again. There is a need to deal with the preventative issues such as deforestation, the capacity to provide low cost housing and the capacity to replace agricultural tools and seeds that have been lost.

We are very fortunate that Trócaire has an office in Honduras, headed by Sally O'Neill Sanchez. It also has offices in Guatemala and El Salvador. It has already allocated a considerable amount of money, approximately €70,000, from its own resources to the disaster relief but this is but a drop in the ocean in terms of what is required. I urge the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Conor Lenihan, to assess the allocation to Central America and take into account the capacity that is already there. There are offices there with experience stretching back to the 1980s. They dealt with Hurricane Mitch and the natural disaster of 2001. Money given to those offices would be spent very effectively and very much welcomed.

The estimated death toll in Guatemala is officially 652. However, aid workers on the ground have pointed out that they cannot account for many people who are missing. A final figure is difficult to arrive at because entire villages have been wiped out. Ms O'Neill Sanchez has reported that some of the villages constitute mass graves as they have simply been covered by mudslides. Some 790 deaths have been recorded in El Salvador, with more than 60,600 people remaining in shelters.

I am aware from previous responses to natural disasters in Central America that if the television cameras cannot get there quickly, it is assumed that the events did not take place, which is disastrous because these are poor people. If one examines the United Nations development report, one will find that these countries are in the bottom category on the human development index. There is very little local capacity in these areas. Guatemala, where people are suffering, is interesting. Of the seven Central American states, statistically it has an Indian majority of approximately 51% or 52%. We should be concerned about this aspect.

The Minister of State is correct to stress the importance of the contribution of non-governmental organisations in Pakistan and the surrounding region, and also in Central America. Irish NGOs are working directly in Pakistan as well as through partner organisations. These organisations deserve our support. I join the Minister of State and other spokespersons in thanking them for their efforts.

The immediate requirements in Central America, with which I am more familiar, is housing and shelter. It will also be necessary to reactivate agricultural and livestock production as people who miss out on a whole season will need assistance in this area. It is urgent that mechanisms be put in place for the restoration of clean drinking water. Like the Pakistan situation, albeit to a minor degree, there will be difficulties, particularly in mountainous areas, in trying to restore a minimal road access network.

I appeal to the Minister of State to assist Trócaire in dealing with the disaster in Central America where €70,000 has been allocated across 19 organisations. This amount of money will only go so far towards providing food, medicines, water, bedding and shelter materials, including personal hygiene items. I am sure the Minister of State will be sympathetic to my appeal for assistance in this regard.

I congratulate the Irish Government for responding quickly on this occasion and for indicating that it will respond further when the need arises. Given the level of public support and the experience of different Governments working abroad, this country should endeavour to develop an expertise whereby it can play a leading role in developing the capacity for prediction, which is scientific, shared on a regional basis, and for a rapid response to reconstruction.

Central America is a hurricane region. No one should be surprised to hear of hurricanes happening in this part of the world. We are all aware of the response that was necessary when hurricane Mitch took place and there was a further disaster in 2001. In 2005, we should have been able to anticipate the needs as they arose and respond effectively.

I look forward to the Minister of State's response. I decided to emphasise the Central American situation, because it is the area with which I am most familiar, and I was anxious that it should not get lost entirely in the debate. I will conclude by saying that the level of deaths in Pakistan, Kashmir and the wider region, which will exceed 40,000, strikes all of us as a great humanitarian disaster. It is encouraging that people in Ireland have been able to respond to it and those who respond by way of a generous allocation will have the support of this side of the House.

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