Power announces second airlift of aid to Burma cyclone victims

Limerick Minister of State for Overseas Development Peter Power has announced a second airlift of emergency assistance to the victims of the recent cyclone in Burma.

Minister of State for Overseas Development, Peter Power, checks some of the Irish humanitarian aid bound for Burma, at Dublin Airport last Wednesday. Picture: Maxwells.

The Limerick East TD approved a second airlift of Ireland's humanitarian supplies, from stores in the Curragh, Co Kildare, to Burma/Myanmar for the victims of Cyclone Nargis. The cargo of plastic sheeting for temporary shelter, blankets, mosquito nets, jerry cans and other essential supplies will leave from Dublin Airport and has been allocated to Concern for their work in Burma.

"I again appeal to the rulers of Burma/ Myanmar to fully facilitate international relief efforts in accordance with the undertakings which they made to the UN Secretary General," Minister Power said.

He also announced the allocation of grants for humanitarian assistance and relief in Burma, which is distributed among established NGO partners of Irish Aid, each of whom had existing operations on the ground in Burma/ Myanmar prior the Cyclone.

"Because of the ongoing difficulty for international humanitarian workers in gaining access to the most affected areas, I am provided assistance to Burma via our NGO partners which had pre-existing operations in place in Burma. This will enable them to use their local staff in the affected regions to deliver the aid so desperately needed," Minister Power said.

"The over-riding priority is to get the relief to those affected as soon as possible," he added.

The largest grant is for Trocaire in the amount of €45,000 as Trocaire have been working through their established partners in the Caritas network in Burma for a number of years. An additional €500,000 has been divided between World Vision International and Save the Children-both of whom have had substantial operations on the ground in Burma for a number of years.

Deputy hits out at delays in progress on nursing home Fair Deal Scheme

Limerick East deputy, Jan O'Sullivan, has criticised the failure to make any progress on the Fair Deal Scheme for nursing home care, which now "means that the legislation that gives the scheme legal effect is now unlikely to come before the Oireachtas before October".

"I welcome the fact that Minister Harney is now open to the idea of using the money put aside for the scheme for other purposes, but she must now make it clear that families who are suffering as a result of the delay in enacting the law, will get priority. €110m was set aside by the Government this year for allocation to the scheme," she said.

"That money should now be used to ease the pressure on families who were quite reasonably expecting that the scheme would be fully in place at this stage and who have had to face significant nursing home bills, in the meantime, some of which have increased dramatically in recent times."