Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to an organisation (details supplied); and his views on whether their work merits support from Irish Aid [6286/13]

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I, and Irish Aid officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, have been in communication with the oganisation referred by the Deputy on a number of occasions over the past six months.

In my correspondence with the organisation, I have acknowledged the importance of strengthening access to ICT infrastructure in the immediate aftermath of natural disasters. The organisation initially sought support to attend a disaster response learning exercise in California. In the latest correspondence, the organisation sought funding to attend a round table discussion on innovation in disaster response organised by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency in the White House today. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was not in a position to allocate such financial assistance.

I have outlined for the organisation some of Irish Aid’s existing engagement in this area of work. In particular, I noted that Irish Aid’s Rapid Response Initiative already works closely with the United Nations agencies through the Standby-Partnership Programme and Emergency Telecommunications Cluster to support the UN in providing information management and communications systems in disaster settings. Under the Rapid Response Initiative, since 2007, ICT specialists have been deployed to a number of humanitarian crises, including those in Haiti, the Philippines, Sudan, Cameroon, Kenya and Mali.

Last week, at my request, officials from Irish Aid met with the founder of the organisation to discuss its work and the humanitarian approach of Irish Aid. The meeting allowed officials to provide advice and contacts for the organisation which I believe will prove very useful.