Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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508. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which humanitarian aid continues to be made available to those for whom it was intended throughout the continent of Africa; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45688/15]

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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The world is currently facing an unprecedented level of humanitarian crisis, and appeals for assistance continue to outpace the international community’s capacity to respond. Almost 60 million people are now displaced globally, half of them children, many on the continent of Africa.

The Government’s aid programme, Irish Aid, is strongly focused on the fight against poverty and hunger in sub-Saharan Africa and Ireland’s humanitarian response focuses on the most severe crises, especially protracted and forgotten emergencies. The core objective of our assistance is to save and protect lives, alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity, before, during and in the aftermath of such crises. Ireland's humanitarian response is principled and focused on where needs are greatest.

Ireland is committed to working with a range of partners including non-governmental and UN organisations, and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. These partners have the experience and capacity to deliver assistance to the most vulnerable communities in times of crisis and stress.

In total, Ireland has provided over €80 million in humanitarian assistance in 2015 and this budget will increase to over €100 million for 2016. We are allocating additional resources across affected countries to support programmes which save lives, improve food security and protect livelihoods.

In addition to responding to acute humanitarian needs in South Sudan since the outbreak of conflict two years ago, Ireland continues to provide humanitarian assistance in a number of major crises across Africa in Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and across the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, including Somalia and Ethiopia.

Many parts of Africa are currently being affected by the El Niño weather event which is one of the strongest ever measured. More unpredictable weather conditions are already having a detrimental effect on people’s lives and livelihoods across the continent. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and scale up responses in order to build the resilience of people to withstand the effects of such a weather event across Africa.