A GOVERNMENT-leased plane leaves for Haiti today with 80,000 tonnes of aid for the victims of the earthquake, one of the largest consignments of humanitarian supplies ever provided directly by the state.

THE Irish Red Cross Society has denied strongly that it is “debt-ridden” after it was reported the charity is in serious debt, paralysed by bad management and in urgent need of reform.

Construction manufacturer JCB has donated a fleet of diggers to help with relief efforts in China following the devastating earthquake.