Madam, - The sheer scale of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina was brought home to me by the report in your edition of September 7th that Congress had approved an €8.4 billion emergency aid bill - a figure approaching the cost overrun on our national roads. - Yours, etc,
PAT MURPHY, Greystones, Co Wicklow.
Madam, - I must respond to Lisa Hawkins's letter of September 6th in which she pleaded for donations for the people left destitute by Katrina.
While I admire her impulse to help the suffering, I can't help feeling her efforts are misplaced. I too am American, and I cringe at the thought of Irish people being asked to give money to the US, especially when money is not the real issue.
Under George Bush, the US has slashed public programmes that help the poor and middle classes while providing generous tax cuts for the very wealthiest. In the coming weeks, Congress is scheduled to take up its most pressing agenda: further cuts to public programmes including Medicaid, food stamps, student loans, and welfare benefits, and permanent repeal of the estate tax, which affects only millionaires and billionaires (the wealthiest 1 per cent of households). The congressional agenda also includes extension of the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003, which largely benefit America's suffering super-rich.
Meanwhile, the appalling poverty revealed by Katrina is growing throughout the country. According to the New York Times, infant mortality, already shamefully high, has risen for the first time since 1958.
The Irish people are known for their great generosity and leadership in helping others in time of need. But do we abuse that generosity by asking for help when we know America has the economic resources, if not the heart, to help its own? - Yours, etc,
JERI REILLY, Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim.
Madam,- May I propose a solution to the controversy over Ireland's €1 million donation to the US for hurricane relief? US taxpayers annually give Ireland around $20 million dollars in foreign aid through the International Fund for Ireland. Why doesn't Ireland give this money back and ask the US to redirect it to the Red Cross? Surely two of the world's wealthiest nations can take care of their own people. - Yours, etc,
NOREEN BOWDEN, Dominick Street, Galway.