The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern has this afternoon expressed his shock and concern at the devastating effects of the earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra and pledged €1 million to the relief effort.
He said that while there were no reports of any Irish casualties in the areas affected, the Consular Section of the Department of Foreign Affairs in conjunction with the Irish embassies in India, Malaysia and Singapore, were monitoring the situation closely "and assisting people in Ireland who are trying to make contact with family members and friends in the region."
Mr Ahern also extended his deepest sympathy, on the Government's behalf, to the countries in Southern Asia affected by the earthquake in Indonesia. .
The Government this afternoon pledged €1 million to aid the relief effort following the multiple Tsunamis in south east Asia which killed more than eight thousand people and left hundreds of thousand homeless.
The Minister of State for Development Cooperation and Human Rights, Mr Conor Lenihan, said the disaster had left him deeply shocked.
"The needs of those who have survived will be enormous and our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been affected by this terrible disaster" he said.
Mr Lenihan said that Government assistance would be delivered through the international Red Cross which already has personnel at disaster sites throughout the region.
Both Trócaire and the Irish Red Cross have each pledged €100,000 in emergency aid while the European Commission announced it had allocated more than €3 million to the relief effort.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has described communications in the areas affected by the earthquake as "very poor" at present and said it was very difficult to make contact with
people in the region.
It issued the following helpline numbers which people can call to enquire about the situation: 01-4082302; 01-4082876; 01-4082308.
It has also advised against travel to directly affected regions and urged anyone with holidays booked in South east Asia to contact their tour operators ahead of departure.
