The Government has decided to double its allocation of aid to the earthquake disaster areas, bringing it to €20 million, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Ahern, announced last night, writes Kathy Sheridan in Colombo
After consultation with the UN logistics agency, UNJLC, it has also agreed to send to Sri Lanka four Irish Army personnel - "already picked and ready to go" - with expertise in transport logistics and engineering.
Mr Ahern was speaking after the final leg of visits to Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, on which he was accompanied by the chief executives of GOAL, Concern, Trócaire and the Irish Red Cross.
As well as appointing an honorary consul to Thailand, the Department intends to promote a specific project for the Phuket region, in co-operation with the four NGOs. "We will run it jointly and put it in place as a testimony to the Irish people who lost their lives, were injured or were somehow caught up in that disaster. The project will be designed to help the poor of that area who were affected by the tsunami."
After road and helicopter trips to Irish NGO projects across Sri Lanka, and meetings with the Prime Minister, Mr Mahinda Rajapakse, as well as with local authorities in the ravaged towns of Galle, Hambantota and Payagala, the Minister said Sri Lanka had a "huge" problem.
"It's the spread of the disaster, right around the coastline, and almost all of it is affected ... But the way in which the authorities here have addressed the situation is admirable. I saw, wherever I went, huge clearances taking place, by people employed by the local authority. In this respect, the situation is much better than anything I saw in Indonesia."
It was evident from his meeting with Mr Rajapakse that the prime minister was "quite clearly on top of the situation, because he was able to tell me that his government had offered GOAL specific land for emergency shelter in Hambantota".
The €20 million is to be allocated to "various NGOs, with more emphasis on Irish indigenous NGOs". A "moving person" would be appointed by the Department, whose job it would be to "keep a constant eye on the projects and to communicate difficulties back home to us".
Mr John O'Shea, the chief executive of GOAL, welcomed the announcement, which comes at the same time as agreement from the US government to allocate $3½ million to the organisation to build emergency shelters for 2,500 families at Hambantota. "I welcome this decision and believe the Minister is reflecting the mood of the Irish people," he said.
Mr O'Shea's only quibble was with the size of the Army detachment. "This is as a result of the advice of the technical assistance team, but they have only assessed one country so far. I would have thought the advice would have been for a more substantial mission."
However, the Minister saw little merit in this argument. "From what I saw in Thailand, that country neither requires nor indeed would want an Irish Army presence. In Indonesia, from what I saw, the requirement is for large helicopters and Hercules aircraft - heavy plant - and we have none of those."