Written Answers. - Irish Red Cross Society.
Eamon Gilmore
Ceist:
67
Mr. Gilmore
asked the
Minister for Foreign Affairs
the specific services which are provided by the Irish Red Cross Society to refugees and asylum seekers; if the Irish Red Cross Society provides a tracing service; the number of Red Cross members trained to provide such services; the locations where tracing services are available to refugees and asylum seekers; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[20575/01]
Eamon Gilmore
Ceist:
68
Mr. Gilmore
asked the
Minister for Foreign Affairs
the contacts his Department maintains with the Irish Red Cross Society; the frequency with which his Department meets with the Irish Red Cross Society; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[20576/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 67 and 68 together.
The Government greatly values the role played by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement – Red Cross family – in the provision of assistance to people affected by conflict, displacement and disaster worldwide. The Red Cross family is made up of the International Committee of the Red Cross – ICRC – , the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies – IFRC – and the national societies, of which the Irish Red Cross is one. The ICRC and the IFRC are two of the partner organisations with which the Government works in responding to emergencies and humanitarian disasters.
Each year the ICRC and IFRC launch their respective annual emergency appeals. Appeals are also launched following sudden onset disasters. These appeals, which are issued directly to Governments and other members of the international donor community, are the normal channels through which Ireland Aid allocates funding to the Red Cross. As both Red Cross agencies are based in Geneva, contact is made and maintained through the Irish Mission in Geneva rather than the Irish Red Cross, which works under their aegis. This has been, and continues to be, the established practice in relation to the humanitarian working contacts between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Red Cross family.
Ireland contributed a total of £1.54 million to the ICRC in 2000 for humanitarian relief and rehabilitation assistance programmes. So far this year, the Government has contributed £1.45 million to the ICRC for their appeals in Afghanistan, Burundi, Iraq, Kenya, Rwanda and Sudan. In addition, the IFRC received £444,613 during 2000 for humanitarian emergencies in Belize, Madagascar, Mongolia and Venezuela. To date during 2001, the federation has received a total of £700,000 from the Government in response to the earthquakes which struck El Salvador, India and more recently Peru. A further £100,000 was allocated to the IFRC emergency preparedness programme in Latin America.
The Department of Defence makes a separate, multilateral contribution to the ICRC, by way of its normal annual contribution towards its organisational costs – £100,000 in 2000. The Department of Defence administers this and supports the staffing costs of the Dublin headquarters of the Irish Red Cross Society through a grant-in-aid, which this year amounts to £609,000. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has responsibility for services provided by the Government to refugees and asylum seekers. The role of the Department of Foreign Affairs in the provision of services to refugees ended on 2 April 2001, when the Refugee Agency was incorporated into the Reception and Integration Agency at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The Irish Red Cross Society is an autonomous body and the Department of Foreign Affairs is not involved in its administration.
As part of its ongoing responses to humanitarian emergencies, the Government will continue to work closely with the International Committee of the Red Cross and its affiliates of the Red Cross family. This reflects the high regard in which they are held by Ireland and other members of the international community and the important role which they fulfil in providing early assistance to vulnerable and suffering people.
Questions Nos. 69 and 70 answered with Question No. 66.
