Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 113: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent to which he has had dialogue with his EU and UN colleagues regarding the follow up operations at the various natural disaster locations throughout the world in recent years with particular reference to Pakistan, Haiti and Chile and or other locations; the extent to which comparisons have been made to determine the most effective procedures in such circumstances; the lessons if any learned and decisions taken arising therefrom; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36120/10]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 382: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the degree to which he in conjunction with his EU and UN colleagues have monitored the worldwide community response to the various natural disasters; if any lessons have been learned with particular reference to early and coordinated response; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36412/10]

Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Question Nos. 113 and 382 together.

The number and frequency of disasters such as floods, drought, landslides and earthquakes has grown over the past decade and will increase further as a result of climate change and global warming. It is estimated that over 90 percent of disaster-related deaths occur in developing countries and it is the poorest who are typically worst affected. Ireland has played a central role in efforts to reform and improve the effectiveness of the international humanitarian system since the Asian tsunami of 2004. The inability of the international community to more adequately and effectively cope with the scale of that disaster and its aftermath led to a comprehensive review of the response to humanitarian crises and the development of new coordination and funding mechanisms under the United Nations system. Ireland has been prominent in this process in both policy and financial terms and has been one of the main supporters of the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), a funding reservoir which can be drawn upon within hours of a disaster. Ireland has contributed €76m to this fund since 2006. Ireland also strongly supported the development of a Cluster System within the UN, which ensures that humanitarian agencies responding to a crisis do so in a coordinated fashion. More recently, as chair of the Good Humanitarian Donorship Initiative Ireland encouraged greater cooperation between national governments as a means to ensure a more effective approach overall.

The Government has also comprehensively reformed its own internal mechanisms since 2004 in order to better respond to humanitarian emergencies. Through the Irish Aid Rapid Response Initiative, Ireland can immediately deploy highly-skilled personnel and emergency supplies to a disaster zone within a relatively short time-frame following a crisis. We have also pre-positioned funding with a number of significant humanitarian NGOs such as Concern,Goal and Trocaire which can be immediately released to support a crisis response. In the days following the tragic earthquake in Haiti I attended an emergency meeting of Development Ministers and the February meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. On each occasion I stressed to my EU colleagues the importance of an effective EU response to the situation in Haiti, within the overall coordination role of the UN. I subsequently attended an international conference on the reconstruction of Haiti in New York in March, at which I pledged €12 million on behalf of the Irish people for the relief and reconstruction of Haiti. I also held talks with the then UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Sir John Holmes, on a number of ongoing humanitarian crises, such as Haiti, Chile and others and the lessons to be drawn from each.

I witnessed the plight of the Haitian people at first hand when I visited the country in July of this year and held talks with Prime Minister Bellerive and UN officials. During the visit I visited a number of projects funded by the Irish taxpayer which are providing essential shelter and sanitation to thousands of destitute Haitians. We can all be proud of the contribution made by these projects and the many Irish people working with the UN and other agencies in Haiti.

Ireland was also one of the first countries to respond to the ongoing flooding in Pakistan and to date the Government has committed nearly €2.6m to the relief effort – one of the largest per capita international contributions to date. This included our largest ever airlift to date of humanitarian supplies, providing shelter and water and sanitation equipment for 33,000 people. I met the Ambassador of Pakistan to Ireland, Mrs Naghmana Hashmi, to discuss Pakistan's needs and also convened an emergency meeting of Irish humanitarian agencies responding to the crisis to ensure a seamless Irish response.

The reform of the international humanitarian system continues to be a work in progress and with each crisis lessons are drawn and systems refined or improved. Ireland has been central to this process and we will continue to work to maximise both the impact of our humanitarian aid for beneficiaries and value for money for the Irish taxpayer.