Government to store emergency aid supplies at Italian port

The Government is to stockpile emergency aid supplies in Italy which could assist up to 20,000 people in the event of a natural disaster such as the Asian tsunami in 2004 or last year's earthquake in Pakistan.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Conor Lenihan said yesterday that under a contract to be signed this Friday, tents and cooking equipment will be pre-positioned in the port of Brindisi in southern Italy. As part of a new rapid response initiative, further aid supplies will be stored at the Curragh Camp in Co Kildare.

Mr Lenihan said there would be sufficient emergency supplies stockpiled in Italy to provide cooking equipment and shelter for a village of 20,000 people. Supplies will be managed by the World Food Programme.

In a presentation to the Oireactas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Mr Lenihan said the Government would also draw up a register of skilled individuals in the public and private sector who could deploy at short notice to assist in emergency situations around the world.

He said that in the aftermath of the earthquake in Pakistan the UN said there was a need for civil engineers with expertise in road construction. "This road-building expertise exists within many local authorities."

Mr Lenihan said the Government would also pay for training of people on the new register.

He said a new dedicated unit for conflict analysis and resolution would be established in the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The department would also establish a hunger taskforce, predominantly made up of people from outside Ireland, to examine the particular contribution the country can make in tackling the root causes of food insecurity, particularly in Africa.

Mr Lenihan said discussions on the planned transfer of Ireland Aid staff to Limerick as part of the decentralisation process were continuing. He said an interim measure allowing some senior personnel to remain in Dublin may have to be considered.