We must learn the lessons of the Asian tsunami to improve our own capacity to respond, writes Bertie Ahern.
Yesterday saw the one-year anniversary of the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that led to the loss of more than 228,000 lives.
Yesterday we remembered those victims and in particular the four Irish victims - Lucy Coyle, Éilís Finnegan, Connor Keightley and Michael Murphy.
May they rest in peace.
Yesterday we looked back and reflected. Today we must look forward; look at what can be learned from such a painful experience and how we can best ensure that such an event will not be repeated.
It is important that we learn lessons from our response to the tsunami, so that in future we can respond faster, better and more appropriately. In the past year, events such as the tsunami, the food crisis in Niger and the Pakistan earthquake all demanded urgent and concerted action by the international community. Ireland, with other donors, responded to these demands.
Similarly, Ireland, with other donors, must now look at what lessons we can learn for the future from our engagement in these crises.
The issues emerging are many and varied, but what is clear is the fact that an increasing number of people are at risk from disasters such as the last year's tsunami and the earthquake in Pakistan in October this year.
Earthquakes, floods, and tsunamis are not modern phenomena; they are as old as the planet itself. However, the increasing economic polarisation of our global community means that the threat they pose to human life is greater than ever. It is the poorest people who are most vulnerable when disasters strike.
Underdeveloped infrastructure, high population densities and poor preparation all increase the potential impact of disasters.
It is wrong to suggest that poor people are unaware of the risks they face by living along seismic fault lines, in semi-arid desert, on flood plains, or in townships built on unstable hillsides. These people are acutely aware of the risks they face every day, but they are trapped, by poverty, into living with these risks.
The reality is that poor people are less able to protect themselves from risk.
However, this is a problem we can do something about.
Firstly, we can respond more effectively to disasters when they occur. As well as the Irish people, the Government responds quickly and generously in financial terms to humanitarian emergencies.
With the announcement of a Rapid Response Initiative and Ireland's intention to pre-position essential humanitarian supplies, we will add an operational element to our capacity to respond.
Secondly, and strategically, we can invest more in prevention and early warning. This is essential if the international community is to address crises before they evolve into full-scale emergencies or famine. Jan Egeland, UN under-secretary for humanitarian affairs, said earlier this year that "$1 spent on prevention pays back 10-fold in less need for disaster intervention later".
Prevention, particularly in relation to hunger and famine, will be a special focus for Ireland's aid programme. We will provide funding to address the fundamental underlying problems of food scarcity. We must look at the livelihoods of subsistence farmers and invest in reducing vulnerabilities.
Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly of all, we want to see increased global investment in long-term development. Communities must have access to the resources needed to pursue their own path to development and to strengthen their own capacities to withstand crises. The Irish taxpayer is making a huge contribution to development worldwide.
In 2006, the Government will spend €675 million in overseas aid, on behalf of the public. With the commitment to reaching the target of 0.7 per cent of GNP in 2012, our aid spending will be of the order €1.5 billion in that year.
This assistance is contributing to the development of stronger and better health systems, education systems, communications and much more. The stronger the systems put in place, the better able communities and countries will be to withstand, and recover from, the impact of crises, natural or man-made, when they occur.
When disasters strike, it is imperative that the resources being made available are co-ordinated and marshalled to best effect, avoiding duplication and targeting those in greatest need. The Government will continue to support and champion the central role of the United Nations in co-ordinating the international response to major humanitarian emergencies.
The Government is playing its part, but there are other important actors.
Ireland has a very strong community of non-governmental relief and development organisations, such as Christian Aid, Concern, Goal, Oxfam and Trócaire, which have the capacity to respond swiftly to crisis situations.
Furthermore, Ireland is well represented in both financial and human resource terms within UN and Red Cross structures for humanitarian response.
The media also have an immensely important role to play. At the time of the tsunami, they kept us all informed of unfolding events and helped to encourage the response of a generous public.
However, the media could also do more in educating the public about the nature of humanitarian disasters and the most appropriate ways of responding. The news media wield enormous influence and so can make a vital contribution to improving our response. Understandably, people wish to translate their care and their compassion into action. The media can help guarantee that action is both appropriate and effective.
Humanitarian disasters are a drain on resources that could otherwise be used for public and private investment in developing countries.
The cost of responding to natural disasters is increasing exponentially.
The United Nations estimates that the economic costs associated with natural disasters have increased three-fold between the 1980s and the 1990s. As the 1990s drew to a close, natural disasters were causing economic losses in the region of €550 billion per annum - this is more than eight times the total flow of aid to developing countries for 2004.
It is hugely important to effectively address vulnerability to disaster if we are to concentrate our efforts on the work of effecting long-term, positive change in developing countries.
With the expansion of aid spending now in prospect, I am confident that the people of Ireland, through the official development assistance programme, will make a significant contribution to reducing poverty and vulnerability and ultimately contribute towards a world where devastating events of the scale that occurred on December 26th, 2004, will be relegated to a thing of the past.
As a natural disaster, the tsunami was unprecedented in scale in modern times. Mistakes were made and there are lessons to be learned.
Chris Flood, as the Government's special envoy, recently reported his findings. They offer food for thought for the Government and for the many others in Ireland working in this area.
We cannot eliminate the occurrence of disasters. However, we can and will continue to enhance the capacities of affected communities to withstand crises as well as our own capacity to respond.
We will continue to make the best possible use of taxpayers' money and to make the biggest possible difference to those affected or threatened by such events.
* Bertie Ahern is Taoiseach.