John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 112: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position with regard to the development of a rapid response initiative to strengthen Ireland's capability to respond to emergency situations worldwide; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34436/06]

Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 202: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position with regard to proposals to establish a Rapid Response Initiative as part of our response to humanitarian disasters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35067/06]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions No. 112 and 202 together.

The Rapid Response Initiative, as set out in the White Paper on Irish Aid, is designed to enhance Ireland's response to humanitarian crises. The Initiative has three elements: (1) the pre-positioning and transportation of humanitarian supplies to disaster areas; (2) the availability of a roster of highly-skilled and experienced individuals, from both the public and private sectors, including the Defence Forces, for deployment at short notice to emergency situations; and (3) improving the emergency capacities of international humanitarian response agencies and mechanisms.

On Friday 13 October, I signed a Letter of Understanding with Mr. James Morris, Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) on the pre-positioning of humanitarian supplies. Under the two-year pilot programme, Irish Aid will fund the pre-positioning of humanitarian supplies at the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) — the UN's rapid response base, managed by the WFP — in Brindisi, Italy. Further pre-positioned stocks will be located at the Curragh in due course.

The emergency supplies at Brindisi will comprise shelter and other non-perishable items such as kitchen sets, blankets, plastic sheeting, tents and mosquito nets and also water supply and sanitation equipment to benefit up to 20,000 people. Similar materials will be stored at the smaller facility in the Curragh. Ireland will also assist the UN in the expansion of its network of regional supply depots.

The second element of the Rapid Response Initiative, the establishment of a roster of individual volunteers available to assist in sudden emergencies, is currently in the planning phase. The roster will comprise a focused range of experts, recruited from both the public and private sectors, including the Defence Forces, who will be seconded, on request, to various UN organisations at short notice and for short periods in the early stages of a humanitarian response.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have been identified as appropriate partners in this regard. Irish Aid is currently in discussions with these UN humanitarian agencies in relation to the skill sets requirements for emergency missions. I expect that we will be able to enter into stand-by arrangements with these organisations in due course.

The third element of the Rapid Response Initiative is to provide assistance to key UN agencies, the Red Cross family and NGOs to enable them to enhance their own capacity to respond to humanitarian emergencies. This process is underway.