Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

In the course of a speech on 18 November 2005 at the Royal Irish Academy, at an event to mark 50 years of UN participation, my colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, outlined his plans to set up a volunteer corps unit within his Department to harness the strong volunteer spirit in the country. The Department of Defence and the Defence Forces will provide advice, as required, to this unit. Also, in the course of the speech, the Minister for Foreign Affairs mentioned his intention to pre-position humanitarian supplies, including tents and ready-to-eat meals, deployable at short notice, which will contribute to the immediate saving of lives.

Prior to this event, the Department of Foreign Affairs sought assistance from the Minister of Defence on the development of this concept and a meeting to discuss these issues took place between civil and military personnel from the Department of Defence and officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs on 11 November 2005. Arising from that meeting, an interdepartmental committee, which will include representation from the Defence Forces, is being established to proceed with this task. The first meeting of this committee will take place on 16 December 2005 and the Minister has instructed that every support possible should be provided for this initiative.

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