Ireland has increased its aid package for victims of the southeast Asian tsunami to nearly €20 million after the announcement today of a further €9 million allocation.
Minister of State for Development Co-operation and Human Rights Conor Lenihan said the new allocation would be distributed through aid agencies, the UN and other international organisations.
Among the areas to be funded are the provision of permanent housing for families that lost their homes; repairing and replacing damaged schools and health facilities; legal aid to resolve issues relating to land, resettlement, and inheritance; and the provision of professional and appropriate mental health care through state structures.
The package is based on the work of former Fianna Fáil TD Chris Flood who has led an Irish team reporting to the Department of Foreign Affairs on needs in the region.
"We will continue to assess ongoing needs as the recovery programme rolls out. We will stay involved for the long haul," Mr Lenihan promised today.
Speaking on the six-month anniversary of the disaster, Mr Lenihan remembered the victims, "in particular the four young Irish people who died, as well as their friends and families".
The Labour Party, meanwhile, is to publish a draft Bill on Monday that requires all Irish governments to allocate the targeted 0.7 per cent of GNP to overseas aid within two years of being passed.
During Ireland’s successful campaign to be elected to the United Nations Security Council in 2000 the Taoiseach announced on a number of occasions - including before the UN - that Ireland would commit 0.7 per cent of GNP to foreign aid by 2007.
However, shortly after becoming Minister of State for Foreign Affairs last year, Mr Lenihan said the target would not be met until well beyond that date. He recently suggested before a Oireachtas committee that the target may not be met until 2015.