Dáil debates

Tuesday, 30 March 2010

3:00 pm

Photo of Dan NevilleDan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 74: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of personnel, including those from the Rapid Response Corps, that he has sent to assist with the relief effort in Haiti; the areas of expertise of these personnel; the length of time they will be available to continue with the relief effort; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13248/10]

4:00 pm

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Government's response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti on 12 January has been multi-faceted and effective, involving the airlifting of emergency supplies, funding for the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies, and the deployment of personnel both from Irish Aid, within the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Irish Aid-managed rapid response corps.

In the days immediately following the earthquake, my colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for overseas development, Deputy Peter Power and I despatched a technical team of four personnel to Haiti to undertake an analysis of priority needs and to make recommendations for action by Irish Aid in the medium and longer term. The team, which comprised three officials from Irish Aid and an engineer from the Defence Forces, spent five days on the ground. Their recommendations are informing our decisions on the role Ireland should play in the relief and recovery effort in Haiti.

In addition to the Irish Aid team, the Government has deployed seven members of the rapid response corps to Haiti - the largest number deployed to a single emergency since the initiative was established following the 2004 Asian tsunami. Corps members are highly-specialised volunteers who travel to crisis situations at the request of our UN and other humanitarian partners.

Four corps members – a civil engineer, an electrical engineer, a telecommunications technician and an IT expert – have been assigned to the World Food Programme, while two logisticians have been deployed to work with Concern and Goal respectively. A seventh member, a retired army officer, is working as civil-military co-ordinator with the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA. An eighth will deploy next week to work with OCHA as a protection officer, dealing with the complex issue of sexual abuse and exploitation among the disaster-affected population. These deployments are for up to six months.

Other Corps members remain on standby and we expect further deployments in the weeks and months ahead.

Photo of John DeasyJohn Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Perhaps I could broaden the question. The Minister will be aware that many people, due in no small part to the number who have lost their jobs over the past two years, have become a great deal more interested in volunteering abroad in our programme countries for groups and organisations such as the rapid response corps and NGOs that are involved in volunteer activities in Africa and elsewhere, where we have and do not have a large presence. How successful is the Department's interaction with these groups? Should the Department become more involved with these volunteer groups? Has there been an increase in the interaction between these groups and the Department?

There are two sides to this, as I discovered since I have been involved in the aid programme. In some cases it can be a very expensive proposition to put somebody in the field. If the person has not been given the proper training, it can use up valuable resources when they arrive. I have been informed that the biggest problem in the programme countries is that it is desperately expensive to put somebody in a specialised position, be that helping a government to deal with its health programme or otherwise. We are dealing with a different issue here but a number of different groups have emerged in recent years which deal with volunteerism in our programme countries and elsewhere. Is a relationship with them evolving within the Department?

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is. To be clear, this is a different matter from the issue of the rapid response corps. The lesson learned from the tsunami was that the last thing one needs in a disaster is hordes of volunteers, inappropriately skilled, landing at the scene. They can be as much a hindrance as a help. I do not mean that in an intolerant way but inappropriate volunteers and inappropriate equipment and supplies are the last things one needs. The rapid response corps is about developing specialists and people who can be of use, when the needs assessment has been carried out. It is also about offering complementarity and co-ordination to the other donors. I am quite taken by the French proposal that better co-ordination at European Union level is required, with perhaps a Europe-wide inventory of what specific skills each country can bring to the table so we are not all copying each other and can more effectively and speedily bring the required disciplines to bear.

In terms of the broader issue of volunteerism, the Department and Irish Aid have refined and provided for a more sophisticated approach to volunteering through the establishment of the volunteer centre and particularly through the code of practice for volunteers. This puts strong emphasis on training and places obligations on existing and new NGOs to accord with the code of practice, to be registered properly and so forth. We need to keep a constant watch on this situation to ensure that people who volunteer are treated well and have maximum security and protection, that their experience is an enriching one and that they do not become disillusioned quickly. I have been to the volunteering centre, met many NGOs and have spoken at many events and this is something that exercises Irish Aid and the Department very much.

This country is fortunate to have many people who wish to volunteer. The most exciting aspect I have witnessed in recent times is the degree to which second level schools in Ireland have become more engaged with the Irish Aid programme, the Third World and the plight of people living in the Third World. Schools are now sending students on structured programmes to visit these countries on a relatively regular basis. A number of schools are involved in the WorldWise programme. It is important that schools become involved in that programme because it guides the teachers and provides materials for them. The importance of that programme for future society is that we will create a significant community of people in Ireland who are positively orientated towards intervening effectively and on a sustainable basis in the Third World. It is one of the better things I have seen in recent times.

Photo of Michael D HigginsMichael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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I support Deputy Deasy's suggestions regarding volunteering. However, it should not be left to each NGO to structure the experience of volunteers. There is great space for an agency to identify the essential features of a volunteering experience. We might not say it, but we know the NGOs differ with regard to the experience they offer volunteers. It should not be left a casual matter.

There are areas in which we could be far more involved. In Haiti, for example, elections are due to take place. We have a very antiquated roster structure for observing elections. I am on the roster and I am regularly asked, at just a week's or two weeks' notice, to go to some country such as a Spanish speaking country. In the places I have been sent I noticed ex-county managers, ex-county secretaries, a large number of former gardaí and so forth. This community is no doubt gifted and has rich experience but they are not exclusive of all the experience that is available in our society. This could be an area of expertise. There are elections taking place somewhere on the planet every day. Observing them is a skill in which people could be trained. Canada's human rights centre produces a handbook on election monitoring for long-term and short-term observers.

Photo of John DeasyJohn Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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We will not send our bankers there.

Photo of Michael D HigginsMichael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Well, there are places I could suggest.

We should examine this issue. The Minister mentioned Europe, which prompted me to ask this question. Getting on to the European roster is governed by one's presence on the Irish roster. Different member countries have different places, hence one encounters somebody from the European Parliament who heads a delegation, as was the case when I was in Cambodia. There are skills everywhere but this is an area of expertise in which we are very welcome. We could train people to be regularly available, and we should not confine it to the professions I mentioned and for which we all have such a high regard.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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That is a very good suggestion. The Institute of Public Administration, IPA, might be in a position to be of assistance in terms of the training and education aspects and developing modules that could be of use.

Photo of Michael D HigginsMichael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Yes, it could.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Even if one is a very effective county manager in managing a multi-seat election in Ireland, that is a unique experience but it might not lend itself to some of the new post-electoral situations that emerge in conflict societies. It is a very good suggestion. We must also examine civil governance capacity. One of the big problems in Haiti is that almost the entire government and its administration were wiped out by the earthquake. Hence, basic administrative and governance capacity was in short supply. Perhaps that is an area in which we and other countries could have been stronger in terms of supplying either former civil servants or seconding people to help administer the situation.