Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As everybody knows, on 8 September, Morocco experienced a major earthquake, which killed almost 3,000 people and injured 5,000 others. Two days later, Storm Daniel struck Libya, with flash floods affecting wide areas in the east of the country, including the city of Derna. It is estimated that over 5,000 people have died with thousands more missing and very significant numbers, running into several hundred thousands of people, displaced.

Ireland responded quickly by providing €2 million in humanitarian assistance for Morocco and €1 million for Libya. The funding is supporting work on the ground by the Moroccan and Libyan Red Crescent Societies. We have also provided assistance through pre-positioned funding with the International Federation of the Red Cross and the UN emergency response fund and through the World Health Organization fund for emergencies like these.

In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, Ireland responds by allocating humanitarian funding to trusted UN, Red Cross Movement and Irish NGO partners that can work at speed. In the face of an increase in the frequency of humanitarian disasters, Ireland's humanitarian funding has increased in recent years, reaching a total of €297 million last year. We are also working to help countries in crisis to adapt and build resilience to the impacts of climate change.

In response to crises, at the request of our international partners, Ireland also provides emergency supplies and stocks to affected areas to help the relief effort. Emergency stocks are stored in strategically located depots and hubs to ensure that supplies can be dispatched immediately. We also regularly deploy highly skilled and experienced individuals from the rapid response corps to work as surge capacity with United Nations partners in humanitarian crises. I will speak separately about the loss and damage fund, of which Ireland is very supportive, because it deals with the climate change issues the Deputy has referred to.

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