Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 47: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress made by his Department with regard to the development of a rapid response initiative allowing Ireland to assist the international community in times of crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3934/07]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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The White Paper last year recommended a Rapid Response Initiative to address some perceived gaps in the international community's response mechanisms to sudden onset humanitarian crises such as the Tsunami and the devastating earthquake in Pakistan. Considerable progress has been made in each of the three key elements of the Initiative:

1. Pre-positioning of Humanitarian Supplies

To allow for the immediate deployment of the key necessities in any crises, consultations have been held with UN agencies and specifications agreed on the stocks of shelter and housing, water and sanitation equipment — including such items as tents, blankets, plastic sheeting, water tanks and kitchen sets.

Last October, I signed an agreement with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) tasking them with the set up, procurement, management and transportation of two stores of humanitarian supplies on behalf of Irish Aid — at the UN's main humanitarian response base in Brindisi, Italy and at the Curragh Camp in Ireland.

Later this month, most of Ireland's supplies, sufficient to provide for more than 20,000 people, will be delivered to Brindisi. The Curragh depot will hold similar supplies for 10,000 people and will become operational in the 2nd quarter of 2007. Funding is available to cover three annual rotations of this material to crisis areas.

2. Establishment of a Rapid Response Corps

Last Monday, my colleague the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, and I launched a national campaign to recruit a Rapid Response Corps.

The Corps will comprise a select number of highly-qualified and appropriately experienced experts. The skill sets required have been identified by our partner UN agencies. A recruitment campaign is now under way to identify roughly 50 individuals with the necessary skills and experience. Appropriate training will be provided for members of the Rapid Response Corps, who will be on stand-by for deployment on 72 hours' notice in the early stages of a humanitarian response. Their skills will be available to three of Ireland's key UN partner agencies: the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA). In certain circumstances, our NGO partners could also have access to recruit expertise from the Corps.

3. Enhancing the Emergency Capacities of International Humanitarian Response Agencies and Mechanisms:

Irish Aid will assist our key partners in the UN system, the Red Cross family and among NGOs to improve their own response mechanisms. In that context, targeted funding in the amount of €3.4 million was disbursed last year. For example, funding was provided for the new UN humanitarian response depot for Africa based in Accra, Ghana. The depot was formally opened in December 2006 and the first airlift of food and humanitarian supplies, to assist vulnerable displaced persons in Chad, took place on 16 January 2007.

Full information on the Rapid Response Initiative can be accessed on the Irish Aid website at www.irishaid.gov.ie.