The United Nations should set up an international emergency aid force to deal with disasters, John Gormley (Green Party, Dublin South East) told the Dáil.
Mr Gormley said a significant number of disasters had occurred in recent years. "Such a force is vital, because not a week goes by without an emergency," he added.
The Government's allocation of €3 million to the victims of the Pakistan earthquake was described as an "initial response" by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Conor Lenihan.
"In line with our previous timely response to both the tsunami and the food shortages in Niger earlier this year, our emergency response will be followed by a second phase response aimed at helping the region and its people towards recovery," he said.
Mr Lenihan said the initial need was for food, shelter and other basic non-food requirements. "The Government is supporting the UN effort with €1.2 million.
"The Government is also allocating €1 million of this funding to Unicef which has mobilised quickly and released its pre-stocked relief supplies of blankets, children's clothing, plastic sheeting, water purification tablets and high-protein biscuits," Mr Lenihan added.
Specific funding had also been allocated to the World Health Organisation which was supporting the Pakistani ministry of health and local health authorities in co-ordinating the health component of the response.
He said the Government had allocated €300,000 to the International Federation of the Red Cross. "Ireland has earned a very strong international reputation for responding generously to emergency and humanitarian crises globally," said Mr Lenihan.
"The provision of timely, significant and flexible funding represents good humanitarian donorship and is in line with best practice internationally."
Mr Lenihan said that severe flooding, made worse by remnants of Hurricane Stan, continued to deluge vast areas of Central America, including El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Families continued to flee what was left of their homes and entire villages had been swept away by swollen rivers and mudslides.
In response to the emergency, he had allocated €1 million in funding for humanitarian assistance, which would be dispersed among the Red Cross, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs and non-governmental organisations.
He said that this year there were separate contributions of over €9.5 million to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and €3 million to Unicef for its global operations.
Congratulating the Government on its efforts, Bernard Durkan (FG, Kildare North) said that a country at Ireland's stage of development should be able to respond in that fashion.
"I hope the UN baseline figure for aid of 0.7 per cent of GDP, as envisaged in the second UN declaration, will be achieved," he said.
Labour spokesman on foreign affairs Michael D Higgins said he would make the case that they needed to look at the medium-term situation and at what must be achieved through the international agencies, particularly the UN.
