Call for Minister to address UN

Calls were made at an Oireachtas sub-committee yesterday for the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Ahern, to seek an opportunity to address the United Nations.

The sub-committee on foreign affairs was hearing submissions from aid agencies working in those countries affected by the St Stephen's Day tsunami. Mr John O'Shea, chief executive of GOAL, said it would be a mistake to leave co-ordination of the large amounts of money flowing into the countries to the governments of those countries.

Praising the swift response of the US and Australian armed forces in distributing aid, he called for an independent, international "rapid reaction force" to move in quickly after humanitarian disasters. This would also act as a watchdog to ensure aid was going where it should.

He said corruption appeared "from the sky" as soon as large amounts of money appeared in these countries. There were already signs that the Indonesian government wanted aid agencies out, he continued.

Calling the UN "useless", he said: "Dermot Ahern certainly impressed me with the way he talked to government officials, looked them in the eye, called a spade a spade. I would call on him to address the Security Council."

Mr Pat Carey TD agreed that the UN needed reform.

Mr Tom Arnold, chief executive of Concern, also spoke of the problem with co-ordination involving the UN.

Senator David Norris said he would encourage Mr Ahern to go and address the UN on the need for a co-ordinated response to the disaster.

Mr Justin Kilcullen, director of Trócaire, cautioned against the "militarisation" of aid.