Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 58: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will respond to correspondence (detail supplied) regarding the humanitarian crisis in Japan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8162/11]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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One month after the devastating magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 25,000 people in north-eastern Japan, the country's authorities are continuing to undertake a massive recovery operation and to bring help to the 170,000 people who remain homeless as a result of the disaster. A further 80,000 people living within a 20 kilometre radius of the Fukushima nuclear power plant which was badly damaged as a result of the tsunami, have also been ordered to evacuate their homes, as workers inside the facility attempt to remove contaminated water and cool the plant's reactor.

The Government responded swiftly to the emergency through the decision on 16 March to allocate €1 million to the Japanese Red Cross, which has been central to the emergency response operation. In addition, the Government placed Irish Aid's Rapid Response Corps – a roster of highly skilled humanitarian personnel – on standby to assist and offered the use of emergency shelter, water and sanitation equipment from our pre-positioned stockpiles in Dubai and Malaysia. At this stage however, the Japanese authorities have indicated that they are unlikely to require this additional support as they now have sufficient resources available within Japan to procure relief supplies and to deliver them to the worst affected areas.

As I have noted elsewhere, Japan has a long history of coping with natural disasters and has one of the best-developed systems of civil protection anywhere in the world. While many thousands of people remain in evacuation centres, the Government of Japan has already developed detailed plans to provide them with accommodation and has requested the housing industry to build 30,000 temporary homes by mid-May. With the vast majority of towns and cities in Japan left undamaged by the disaster, some 42,000 pre-existing housing units have also been made available by local or public authorities across the country to accommodate the displaced. At this stage, it is not anticipated that accommodation will be required overseas given the significant resources which Japan itself is able to devote to this operation. The Government continues to monitor the situation in Japan and remains ready to offer further support should the Japanese consider this necessary.