Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern is to draw up proposals for a civilian response group to act as a rapid reaction force in natural and humanitarian disasters abroad.
The proposals, which will be brought to Cabinet in coming months, would see the establishment of teams of experts in various fields that would be able to travel to disaster zones at short notice to provide a co-ordinated response.
It is envisaged that the response group, which would be made up of volunteers from the private and public sectors, would provide expertise in specific areas such as transport, infrastructure or medicine.
To date the Government has been confined in its ability to respond to such disasters, mainly providing financial aid to charities and local agencies in the disaster area.
The Irish group is expected to operate in niche areas and with small teams of experts.
The new civilian response group would work closely with the United Nations and would be able to respond to disasters within a period of 24 to 48 hours, according to a spokesman for Mr Ahern.