Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

Irish Aid provided €52 million as part of the CERF. Of the €20 million contributed to the tsunami relief effort, €6.4 million was allocated directly to Indonesia and a further €5.6 million to the south Asia region, including Indonesia. A special envoy, Chris Flood, was appointed and he visited the country twice in the aftermath of the disaster. The Irish people provided almost €80 million in private contributions to NGOs such as Concern, GOAL, Trócaire and the Irish Red Cross. It placed Ireland as one of the most generous nations. Our funding was provided in those ways and, hopefully, we will also allocate funding of more than €2 million in 2008 and 2009.

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