Ireland has today allocated an extra €3 million in aid for victims of natural disasters abroad.
An additional €2 million has been allocated to the relief effort in Pakistan and surrounding countries after an earthquake on Saturday left at least 20,000 dead with the figure likely to rise to nearer 40,000.
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell
In Central America a number of countries have been affected by Hurricane Stan with estimates suggesting as many 2,000 people have died. The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Conor Lenihan today announced that €1 million is being allocated to countries including El Salvador, Honduras, Venezuela and Guatemala where as many as 1,400 people from the same village are feared dead.
Mr Lenihan said: "Families have been forced to flee their homes, watching entire villages being swept away by swollen rivers and mudslides."
The money will be allocated to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Red Cross and NGOs supplying aid in the region.
Mr Lenihan also announced a further €2 million in aid for the relief effort centred in Pakistan. An initial pledge of €1 million was made after news of the devastation became known last Saturday.
The Government is allocating €1 million of the new funding to Unicef which has supplying blankets, children's clothing, plastic sheeting, water purifications tablets and high-protein biscuits.
UN agencies, the Red Cross, Red Crescent and non-governmental agencies active on the ground will also be funded form the new allocation.
"Lives have also been lost in India and Afghanistan. Many people will have been left homeless and many others may still be missing and trapped in collapsed buildings.
"The initial needs will be for food, shelter and other basic requirements ... We will continue to closely monitor the ongoing situation in order to ensure that our assistance can be effectively targeted," Mr Lenihan said.
Irish relief agencies Trócaire, Concern and Goal have each donated to €100,000 to the relief fund. Goal has sent a team of seven specialists to the region to support the international relief effort on the ground. They hope to reach Muzaffarabad, the epicentre of the earthquake, tomorrow evening.
Speaking at the announcement of a National Action Plan Against Racism today, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell expressed Irish condolences for those affected by the quake, which killed at least 20,000 people.
"There is a very large and thriving Pakistani community in Ireland and I want on behalf of the Government to echo what the Taoiseach has said and to convey to all the members of the Pakistani community in Ireland just how shocked we were and how upset; and how much we share in the sense of the huge loss from the Pakistani earthquake.
"It was shocking to behold, and these things are very, very difficult for people to understand let alone accept," Mr McDowell said.
Mr Ahern yesterday sent messages of condolence to the heads of government in the affected countries. "Our thoughts and prayers are with those caught up in this terrible tragedy," he said.