Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 45: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his Department will have a lead role in the Rapid Response Initiative to strengthen Ireland's ability to respond to emergency and disaster situations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23767/06]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 57: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position with regard to the establishment of a voluntary humanitarian corp; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25132/06]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 45 and 57 together.

The Rapid Response Initiative aims at strengthening Ireland's operational response to humanitarian crises. Ireland already plays a key role in supporting the UN, the International Red Cross family and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to respond to humanitarian emergencies abroad. The Asian Tsunami of December 2004, the remarkable response of the Irish public to that catastrophe and the UN agenda for humanitarian reform have convinced me that Ireland can and should enhance its humanitarian response.

My Department is leading on the rapid response initiative but is working closely with other Departments, including in particular the Department of Defence. I envisage that this initiative will enable us to work closely with other Departments, including on the release of key skilled people to take part in emergency teams deployed to make rapid needs assessments and assist in the coordination of relief.

The three main components of the initiative are the pre-positioning and transportation of material humanitarian supplies to disaster locations; the creation of a register of highly skilled and experienced individuals for deployment with agencies at short notice; and an overall enhancement of our support to international humanitarian response agencies and mechanisms.

The first element of this initiative will see Ireland pre-positioning humanitarian supplies. The rapid availability and deployment of material supplies such as shelter, food, water and sanitation equipment are key elements for a successful response to an emergency, whether natural or man-made. Recent humanitarian emergencies, such as the Pakistan earthquake, have shown that gaps exist in the surge capacity of the international community to deploy an adequate level of humanitarian supplies quickly.

I am proposing that we help to address this gap by pre-positioning supplies in two specific sectors — shelter and water/sanitation. The exercise is being undertaken in close co-operation with the United Nations, which has the leading role in international emergency response. It is my intention that some of these humanitarian supplies will be stored in Ireland, with the assistance of the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces, and a further stock will be located at an international hub managed by the United Nations.

Following extensive discussions with a range of relevant agencies, we are now putting in place plans for the establishment of the rapid response register. A public advertisement will issue in due course to set out the skills which these discussions have identified as particularly sought after at this time. The international community's humanitarian response has particular gaps in capacity and it is our hope that we can help bridge some of these gaps in certain key sectors. The advertisement will invite applications for inclusion in this targeted register.

Our partner organisations all use, to varying degrees, stand-by arrangements within their own and other organisations to enable them to take on extra staff capacity in the event of a sudden on-set humanitarian emergency. It is our intention that the register will complement these arrangements with the provision of expertise in key sectors of response. In order to ensure a successfully functioning register, it will need to be carefully and professionally managed.

On the enhancement of our partnership with the key humanitarian organisations and mechanisms, proposals have been invited from the UN agencies with whom we have met as well as from our Irish NGOs. While we already provide substantial project-based support to the NGOs for their work in emergencies, I look forward to receiving innovative proposals for support to enhance these organisations' capacity to respond in line with best international practice including working ever more collaboratively in emergency response.

As work on the above progresses, I will provide further updates.