Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I thank Senator O'Toole for sharing his time with me. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Power, and congratulate him on the work he is doing.

An unbelievable disaster has taken place in Haiti. The Minister of State has outlined how the Government and his Department, in particular, have drawn many lessons from the tsunami in 2004. It is great that we have learned from the past about what to do in such disasters. Reference was made to the rapid response unit and the stockpiles of humanitarian assistance material stationed in depots around the globe. These measures allowed us to act swiftly in response to what happened in Haiti. It is great that the Minister of State has drawn lessons from the past in order to allow us to respond more quickly to disasters. He is to be congratulated in that regard.

This country has experienced tough times in the past two years in terms of the high level of unemployment, the depression affecting people with big bank loans and huge debts and a loss of jobs. People are to be congratulated, therefore, on how they have responded to the crisis in Haiti. Some have volunteered to help in the relief effort and paid their own way to Haiti. The resilience of people in this country is unbelievable. They are to be sincerely congratulated. In particular, I congratulate a person from Westport, Ms Gena Heraty, who is working tirelessly on behalf of the people of Haiti. Mr. Paul Claffey of Midwest Radio is hosting an auction in Westport in the next couple of days to which people are being asked to bring material. The money collected will go straight to Ms Heraty in Haiti. That is a great initiative undertaken by Mr. Claffey on behalf of people in the western region who will bring goods to be auctioned in order that funds can be sent to Ms Heraty who knows best what to do with the money in her area.

I also congratulate the many doctors, nurses and lay people who have gone to Haiti at their own expense to help this cause. People in this country are resilient, especially as we have had our own disasters, not least the one affecting the economy, but also the flooding in Athlone, Galway, Cork and many other areas throughout the country. People have given an amount of goods to these causes, not to mention in this case, on which they are to be congratulated.