Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 March 2014
181. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the total humanitarian aid provided to date for the Philippines following the typhoon; the level of financial assistance being provided for 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14213/14]
View answerTyphoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms ever recorded, hit the Philippines on 8 November. It is estimated that the Typhoon affected more than 14 million people, with almost 4 million remaining displaced, including some 1.5 million children. Over 6,000 lives have been lost to date and almost 1800 people are still missing. Ireland was among the first to respond to this disaster, providing immediate, life-saving assistance. Our contribution to date stands at over €4.1 million making us one of the most generous contributors to this relief effort on a per capita basis.
I have just returned from a visit to the island of Leyte in the Philippines where I saw at first hand the devastation caused by the typhoon. An enormous amount has been achieved over the past four months, including through Irish-funded programmes, some of which I visited during my two day visit to the island. However millions of people still require urgent assistance to rebuild their lives and livelihoods and during my visit I pledged a further €3 million in funding to demonstrate Ireland’s commitment to supporting the Philippines over the longer term, particularly as international attention has shifted elsewhere.
This contribution will bring Ireland’s total contribution to the Typhoon response to more than €7 million. The funding will help to ensure that affected communities can rebuild their livelihoods and strengthen their resilience to prepare for any future natural disasters in the region.
Over €2.6 million of our funding has been provided through our key NGO partners. It is being used for the provision of emergency food and non-food items; water, sanitation and hygiene; emergency health care and the protection of vulnerable women and children. It is benefitting up to 50,000 households.
My colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has also authorised a contribution of €500,000 to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) to support its work to restore the livelihoods of farmers affected by the Typhoon.
To date, Ireland has authorised four airlifts of essential relief items from our emergency pre-positioned stocks. The total amount of essential relief items provided by Ireland is 166 tonnes, valued at €967,000. According to the latest figures, Ireland is the second largest contributor of emergency stocks through the UN World Food Programme Humanitarian Response Depot system. In addition, we deployed five members of Ireland’s Rapid Response Corps to the Philippines to assist UN relief teams.
