Govt pledges €1m to Asia relief effort

The Government pledged today to donate up to €1m to help the survivors of the devastating tidal wave which swept across southern Asia.

The wall of water, which was triggered by the largest earthquake in 40 years, killed more than 8,000 people in Indonesia, India, Malaysia and other countries in the region.

In Sri Lanka alone, more than a million people have been forced from their homes.

Minister of State for Development Cooperation and Human Rights Conor Lenihan said he had been shocked at the scenes of devastation.

“The needs of those who have survived will be enormous and our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been affected by this terrible disaster,” he said.

The Government’s aid allocation is to be taken from its emergency relief fund and given to the Red Cross, which is already working in the affected regions.

The €1m will be used to provide shelter, food, water and sanitation.

“We will continue to monitor the crisis closely as new information emerges and the full needs become clearer,” said Mr Lenihan.

Last Christmas, the Government sent €1m in emergency aid to the Iranian city of Bam, which lost 42,000 of its citizens in an earthquake.

The Irish overseas aid budget for 2005 is €535m.

The Government was accused by aid agencies of betraying the poor when it announced in its 2005 budget that it would not reach the UN target of donating 0.7% of Gross National Product by 2007.

The commitment had been made by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at the Millennium Summit in New York in 2000.