Déirdre de Búrca (Green Party)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Like my colleague, Senator Boyle, I wish to express my party's concern at the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in Burma. An estimated 128,000 people are dead and a further 1.5 million are at risk of disease and starvation. The international community is having difficulty providing the type of aid which countries subject to natural disasters such as cyclones are usually willing to receive. The junta in Burma appears to regard the admission of Western aid specialists as a political threat rather than as the vital assistance from the international community which it represents. It presents the question to the international community as to how we respond.

Two issues are raised. The first is whether the international community has the capacity to act quickly, as my colleague Senator Boyle stated, rather than have a slow and inadequate response to a serious humanitarian crisis. The second is what the international community does in exceptional circumstances such as these where the government of the affected country whose population is at serious risk of further massive loss of life does not accept the international aid available to it.

The first issue was adequately dealt with in an article in The Irish Times this morning which called for the establishment of international emergency services. This also seems to be reflected in the thinking when the Lisbon treaty was put together. The establishment of a European voluntary humanitarian corps is one of the provisions of the treaty and it anticipates a rapid and effective response to a natural disaster such as that which occurred in Burma. The European Union is ensuring it has the legal basis to be able to respond and the ability to develop the capacity to do so effectively and in a coherent way.

The article in The Irish Times argues in favour of the need for such a response capacity at international level and the United Nations seems to be the appropriate body. The European Union's attempt to develop this capacity within its structures is welcome but we need such structures at UN level so we can respond to natural disasters. If we accept that the type of threats presented by climate change and global warming will occur more frequently, it is right and proper that the international community puts these structures in place. Will the Minister of State raise this within the Council of Ministers and at the United Nations and allow the idea to gain currency? We need to see it happening sooner rather than later.

A more sensitive issue is that of intervention where a government, such as the Burmese junta, refuses to accept the aid offered by the international community despite the desperate and awful circumstances in which the population finds itself. In such circumstances, we must put in place a new legal framework within the structure of the UN to allow for intervention in the interest of the common good where extraordinary circumstances prevail. This is not to underestimate the principle of national sovereignty. The territorial sovereignty of any State is well established in international law. However, exceptional circumstances can arise and we should have consensus within the international community in this regard. I hope Ireland will play its part in raising these issues within the Security Council and in other UN structures.