388 Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent if any to which he and his EU colleagues propose to improve the EU rapid response programme with particular reference to early intervention and the necessary back-up support; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36418/10]

Ireland and other European Union Member States have actively participated in efforts to reform and improve the effectiveness of the EU's humanitarian response capacity, in particular since the Asian tsunami of 2004. This process is an ongoing exercise which involves drawing lessons from the response to major humanitarian crises and assessing how the EU can improve the effectiveness and coherence of its action, in close cooperation with the United Nations, which has overall responsibility for the coordination of humanitarian affairs worldwide.

Ireland is presently participating actively in a Lessons Learned exercise being carried out by the EU following a number of recent large scale humanitarian crises such as the Haiti earthquake. One important element of this process will be an assessment of how the response of individual Member States can be better coordinated. A number of EU States possess significant rapid response capacity which complements those within the United Nations and NGO systems. In Ireland we have the Rapid Response Corps managed by my Department — a system which is mirrored in a number of other Member States. The Rapid Response Corps is a roster of highly skilled and experienced volunteers who make themselves available to deploy to humanitarian operations worldwide.

Ireland supports efforts to improve cooperation and coordination between national mechanisms. We have encouraged the European Commission to base any future proposal for changes to EU arrangements on a thorough review of existing systems, so as to avoid duplication or overlap. Any future proposals should also be made in close consultation with the UN given the latter's pre-eminent role in the humanitarian sphere.