A standby civilian corps to be sent to disaster zones is being planned by the Government, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said today.
The rapid-response group would consist of doctors, nurses, engineers and other professionals who would be sufficiently skilled to assist disaster victims and help rebuild their communities.
The need for such a group was highlighted in January when Mr Ahern had to assemble a small technical assessment team to fly to the Asian tsunami disaster region, and he has pledged to bring relevant proposals to Government.
"The Asian tsunami brought the question of further developing EU capabilities for civilian response into sharp relief," Mr Ahern told today's National Forum on Europe at Dublin Castle.
"I want to see Ireland continue to contribute to actively developing the union's policies and capacities in this area."
Recently appointed as UN envoy to sell reform packages to 47 European countries, Mr Ahern was addressing general security and defence issues in the EU constitution at today's event.
He said the EU can combine diplomatic, economic and humanitarian resources as well as civil and military expertise to play its part in conflict prevention, crisis management and peace promotion activities.
But he warned that Ireland could not be part of a common defence policy unless Irish citizens agree to an amendment to the Irish Constitution.
He ruled out a European army or conscription and said Ireland's neutrality would be rigorously protected and that the 'Triple Lock' will still apply in all operations.
"We will continue to take our own decisions on the deployment of troops and assets. . . . We will continue to determine our participation in EU crisis management operations on a case-by-case basis, consistent with the Irish constitution and Irish law.
"We can only take part in an EU common defence if Irish people agree."