Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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481. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has discussed with the Italian Presidency of the European Union the need to have a rapid and co-ordinated approach by the European Union to assist in dealing with the crisis arising from the ebola outbreak in west Africa; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37153/14]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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482. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will put forward at the European Union Foreign Affairs Council the need for the establishment of a Europe-based rapid reaction force to help with the humanitarian crisis in west Africa following the ebola outbreak; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37154/14]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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483. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will consider urgently the proposals put forward by GOAL and Doctors Without Borders at the recent meeting of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs on the need to provide an adequate and urgent response to assist in dealing with the ebola outbreak in west Africa; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37155/14]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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484. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the proposals to provide additional humanitarian aid to assist in the response to the ebola outbreak in west Africa; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37157/14]

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 481 to 484, inclusive, together.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa and is now recognised as an international public health emergency. On 21 September the World Health Organisation estimated the total number of cases in the region at over 6,200, with more than 2,900 deaths so far. The epidemic shows no signs of abating and the UN has stated that, in addition to the devastating affect it has already had on economic development in the most-affected countries, it is also a threat to security, governance and political stability in the region.

Ireland is strongly supporting the efforts of the international community to provide a speedy, comprehensive and effective response to this crisis. Ireland was one of the co-sponsors of a UN Security Council resolution on Ebola adopted on 18 September, which led to the establishment of a new UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response - UNMEER. Under the auspices of UNMEER, the UN Secretary General has now launched the UN Ebola Multi-Partner Trust Fund in order to unite the efforts of the international community and UN organisations and to act as a platform for the global control of the Ebola outbreak. The Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Ebola, David Nabarro, issued a call on 24 September for funding of €1 billion. On 25 September, a High Level Meeting was held at the UN in New York to focus world attention on the crisis.

The European Council considered the crisis at its special meeting on 30 August and called for increased response co-ordination across the Member States. A comprehensive EU response framework is now in place and the EU has so far pledged €180 million for the fight against Ebola, in addition to individual Member State contributions. EU mobile laboratories are already deployed in the region to help with the diagnosis and confirmation of cases and to train laboratory technicians. EU funding will also be used to strengthen local healthcare systems and improve food security, water and sanitation.

During the UN High Level Event on the 25 September it was stressed that medical evacuation and transport are two major bottlenecks in the Ebola response effort. The EU is also actively considering the coordination of Member State military and civilian assets to support the evacuation of patients from the region.

The two countries most seriously affected by the Ebola crisis, Liberia and Sierra Leone, are partner countries for Ireland’s development aid programme. We have already provided humanitarian funding of €350,000 direct to NGOs working on the Ebola response. Last week I announced additional funding of €660,000 for UNICEF to enable it to provide life-saving nutritional supplies to children who have been affected by the crisis.

My Department has also been working through the UN Humanitarian Response Depot in Accra, Ghana, to mobilise 42 tonnes of pre-positioned Irish humanitarian supplies for distribution to those most affected, including survivors and vulnerable children. A member of Ireland’s Rapid Response Corps has also been deployed to Dakar, Senegal, and is working with the World Food Programme in setting up an air transit centre for use by the UN Humanitarian Air Service.

This funding and support is in addition to our ongoing development programmes in Sierra Leone and Liberia, where we are providing a total of some €10 million, a considerable proportion of which will be re-directed to fighting the spread of the virus and establishing further treatment facilities. We are also providing very significant funding for the long term development work of our NGO partners in the countries, last year amounting to over €6 million.

I fully share the serious concerns about this crisis and I am satisfied that the international community is now fully seized of the need to act quickly, decisively and generously in bringing the outbreak under control and eventually eliminating the disease. I am planning to visit Freetown this week to gain a personal understanding of the local and regional impact of the Ebola crisis. I will also be reviewing the Irish Aid programmes in Sierra Leone and Liberia and considering what more Ireland can do to help these countries and people that are so badly affected.