I propose to take Questions Nos. 58 and 63 to 65, inclusive, together.
Ireland has provided a total of €56 million in support for the Palestinian people since the beginning of 2023. Of this, €40 million has been provided in humanitarian assistance in response to the suffering caused by the conflict in Gaza since last October. This includes €20 million which we are providing in immediate core funding for 2024 for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is mandated to provide life-saving essential services for 5.7 million Palestine refugees. Last year, we provided €18 million to UNRWA.
Other partners we have been supporting include the UN OCHA Occupied Palestinian Territories Humanitarian Fund, the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Each of these agencies plays a critical role in the provision of humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza in extraordinarily difficult circumstances.
Since the start of the conflict, a number of organisations and individuals have contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs to request information or offer assistance in relation to humanitarian assistance in Gaza. The Department currently advises against all travel to the occupied Palestinian territory, with the exception of East Jerusalem, where we advise against all but essential travel. Ireland does not currently maintain military or civilian Emergency Medical Teams for international deployment.
Movement of supplies, equipment and personnel into Gaza continues to be severely constrained. The WHO has established a coordination cell in Cairo for emergency medical teams, which operate, where possible, in Gaza, in extremely dangerous conditions.
The HSE Global Health Programme works internationally with low and middle income countries to strengthen health systems, improve the health of populations and improve health inequalities. Irish Aid funds the Programme to work in partnership with the Governments of Ethiopia, Mozambique, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia. However, it is not designed or structured to respond to sudden onset health or humanitarian crises.
The EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) is the single co-ordination hub under the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), facilitating a coherent European response during emergencies. In relation to in-kind humanitarian assistance, the ERCC assumes a supporting role, coordinating voluntary contributions from countries participating in the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM). All EU Member States contribute to the UCPM, and it is used for Government to Government donations of assistance.