Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 133: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the assistance Ireland has offered to those affected by mudslides in both Colombia and Mexico [36091/10]

Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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Natural disasters of the type recently seen in the mudslides in Colombia and Mexico are hugely challenging events for the populations affected on the ground. Families lose their homes and livelihoods, children lose their schools and, with them, their vital access to education and essential services like hospitals and transport links are disrupted. In this case, sadly, thirty people lost their lives in Colombia. On many occasions, countries have the capacity to respond themselves. In others, they seek outside assistance from the international community. To date, neither Colombia nor Mexico has requested international assistance in the context of the current mudslides.

Ireland provides pre-positioned support with a range of partner humanitarian organisations giving them the flexibility to respond quickly when such emergencies occur. This includes support for the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), to which Ireland has contributed €76 million since 2006, and the International Red Cross' Disaster Relief Emergency Fund. Ireland also provides standby funds to a number of NGOs to enable them, in turn, to provide a response to particular sudden-onset emergencies.

Ireland keeps its Rapid Response Corps on standby at the disposal of international organisations like the UN and NGOs which can call on the support of individual Corps members where their skills are required. Ireland has pre-positioned stockpiles of emergency humanitarian supplies for delivery as needed in response to emergencies, as has been done on a significant scale in 2010 in relation to Haiti and Pakistan. We keep in close contact with our contacts in the UN, Red Cross movement and NGO partners in the context of deciding which situations require our assistance.

In the longer term, Ireland is involved in significant efforts at an international and local level to integrate disaster risk reduction approaches to our work in development assistance. Such approaches stand the best chance of equipping local populations with the capacity to withstand such natural disasters and the skills to cope when they strike. International studies show that for every €1 spent on disaster risk reduction, €7 is saved in emergency relief responses.