Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has announced a plan to establish a permanent volunteer corp and a rapid response corps that could travel to disaster areas at short notice.
The announcement, made during a speech to mark Ireland's membership of the United Nations at the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin this morning, included a proposal to open an office where the public could access information on the corps.
Mr Ahern said the events of the past 12 months - the Asian tsunami, Niger, Pakistan - proved "beyond all doubt" that the developed world lacks the mechanisms to respond rapidly to humanitarian crises in the field.
"Ireland already has a dedicated, professional and world-class corps of volunteers in the Developing World. We plan to augment their efforts now and bring this volunteering tradition into the mainstream," he said.
Precise details of how the force would be resourced and how it would operate in a disaster situation are yet to be outlined.
Speaking to ireland.com, Goal chief executive John O'Shea welcomed the development but expressed concerns regarding the specific nature the unit would take.
An international rapid response force, implemented by the United Nations Security Council was urgently required, he added.
"This force in itself may not save a huge number of lives but its setting up may act as a catalyst and could persuade the international community to set up the real rapid response force that's needed," Mr O'Shea said.
He said there was no point in the Government seeking to recruit highly skilled personnel such as doctors, nurses and engineers when aid agencies, including Goal and Concern had experienced difficulties with their own recruitment drives.
"The best way for the Irish Government to operate this force is to use the Irish army," he said.
"It has to be military-based. The people of the Third World need protection from the leaders of their own countries who are waging war against them. And they need people who have the ability to move hundreds of tonnes of food and equipment.
"At the moment, the NGO community is alone at the frontline and we just don't have that sort of capability. What we need is an international army - an army without guns," he said.
Mr Ahern said he will facilitate development partnerships between Irish companies and State agencies across all sectors with their counterparts in the developing world.
"The corps will comprise of individuals with relevant and specialist skills and experience in niche areas who will be available to travel at short notice to situations of great need," he said.
The Government is planing to pre-position humanitarian supplies, including tents and ready-to-eat meals, so that they can be quickly deployed at short notice.