State plane delivers largest consignment of supplies

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.

A team of four experts and two trained in logistics and IT are also travelling and Development Minister Peter Power said other experts are on standby to go if needed.

Ireland’s first aid shipment includes plastic shelters, mosquito nets, water and sanitation products for 8,000 families in response to the need to create tented villages away from the city centre where the greatest damage has occurred, Mr Power said.

“I want to send a simple message to the people of Haiti whose lives have been devastated by this disaster — Ireland will not be found wanting.”

More than 1.5 million people are homeless and three million have been affected. Even if homes are still standing, most people are afraid to use them.

The United Nations is putting together an armed security group of 500 people and the European Union has agreed to provide 140 personnel to the team.

A defence forces member will be among the small Irish technical team going to assess the situation, and will report back before a decision is made on whether to contribute personnel to this security force, Mr Power said.

Irish Aid, part of the Department of Foreign Affairs, has contributed €1m to the UN’s flash appeal for funds and given €1m to the Irish aid organisations including Concern, Goal and Trócaire and to the Red Cross.

This €2m is included in the €92m from individual EU member states and the €330m in immediate and longer term aid from the European Union.

Haiti will also benefit from the €20m Irish donation to the UN’s central emergency response fund, Mr Power said, and he added that Ireland is the seventh biggest donor in money terms to this fund, giving €73m over the last three years.

Mr Power attended an emergency EU meeting in Brussels where he got a first hand account of the situation where the state now estimates the death toll could climb to 200,000 people.

The emphasis was on speed and coordination and learning the lessons from the response to the Asian tsunami in 2004.

Ireland has been able to respond quickly as it has pre-positioned funding with the UN and NGOs for such emergencies.

It has also provided emergency supplies such as tents, blankets and water and sanitation equipment in depots around the globe which can be called on quickly.

Following the tsunami, it also set up a Rapid Response Corps of 130 personnel with specialised skills needed following disasters including logistics, engineering, medics and public health.

Two of them are going immediately to help the UN in Haiti and 10 more are on standby to travel to the Caribbean nation.