The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Ahern, begins a three-day tour of the area devasated by the Indian Ocean tsunami.
He will be accompanied by the leaders of aid agencies Goal, Concern and Trócaire.
Mr Ahern has said he had promised the UN that Ireland was ready to offer more help if needed, and that he wanted to express the Government's solidarity with non-governmental organisations working to help the victims.
Meanwhile two senior gardai have arrived in Thailand to search for missing Irish people. It is understood they have brought DNA samples from Irish families to assist them in their search. There are serious concerns for the fate of three Irish people missing in Thailand, while six other Irish people are deemed to be a 'medium risk' according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Over 150,000 people were killed in the disasater which struck on December 26 th. Indonesia suffered the greatest death toll, with over 104,000 killed after 3,000 new deaths were reported on the island of Sumatra.
