Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 December 2014
448. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the total humanitarian aid provided to date for the Philippines following typhoon Haiyan in November 2013; if it is proposed to provide further assistance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48985/14]
View answerTyphoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms ever recorded made landfall across the central Philippines on 8 November 2013. It is estimated that the Typhoon affected more than 14 million people, with almost 4 million displaced, including some 1.5 million children. Over 6,000 lives are known to have been lost with more than 28,000 injured and 1000 people missing.
Ireland was among the first to respond to this disaster, providing immediate, life-saving assistance. To date we have provided funding of over €7.1 million and, with an additional estimated €4 million in voluntary donations by the Irish public. This makes Ireland one of the most generous contributors to the relief effort on a per capita basis.
Over €4.9 million of Ireland’s funding was provided through key non-governmental partners. Funding was 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 in the initial emergency response phase and in support of recovery and reconstruction efforts in 2014. In the immediate aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, we arranged four airlifts of essential relief items - over 166 tonne valued at €967,000 - from Irish Aid emergency pre-positioned stocks.
My colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, approved 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. My predecessor, Minister of State Joe Costello, visited this programme, along with others supported by Irish Aid, in March 2014 and was impressed by the positive impact of the support on the ground and by the remarkable resilience of the communities affected who are rebuilding their lives and livelihoods.
An enormous amount has been achieved over the past twelve months. I am pleased that a delegation from the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, led by Chairman Pat Breen, T.D., had the opportunity last month to visit Irish Aid-supported programmes for communities recovering from Typhoon Haiyan in and around Tacloban. The delegation saw at first-hand the positive impact that these shelter reconstruction, education and livelihoods programmes are continuing to have on the local communities and in support of the Philippines government.
We are monitoring the situation closely following Typhoon Hagupit which struck the Philippines recently, also causing extensive damage in areas near to those affected by Typhoon Haiyan. We are currently considering what further assistance Ireland might provide in 2015 to support ongoing recovery in the Philippines.
