The Government is sending a high-level team of officials and military personnel to the tsunami disaster zone in Asia to assess whether the Army can help in the relief effort.
The announcement was made yesterday, a few hours before the first Irish fatality of the disaster was confirmed. The body of Ms Eilis Finnegan from Dublin was identified in Krabi, Thailand.
Ms Finnegan (27) had been holidaying on the nearby island of Phi Phi with her boyfriend, Mr Barry Murphy, when the tsunami struck. Last night her family issued a statement praising the "tireless efforts" of Mr Murphy, who had remained in Thailand to search for Ms Finnegan.
The Government also announced yesterday that, as well as the group going out to assess a possible role for the Army, a separate Garda team will travel to Thailand before the end of the week to help in the search for missing Irish people. The Garda will give DNA information from the missing people's relatives to the Thai authorities who are attempting to identify people killed in the disaster.
As the UN said yesterday that the death toll was nearing 150,000, with 500,000 injured and five million lacking basic services, it emerged last night that more than €1.5 billion had been pledged worldwide to help victims of the disaster.
The Government technical group, which will leave on Friday, will comprise a logistics expert from the Army and up to five Department of Foreign Affairs officials with development and medical expertise. They will travel to Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand and report back within days.
After the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern, met 16 Irish aid groups and non-government organisations (NGOs) yesterday, the Minister said he wanted to ensure that its donation of €10 million was spent in a co-ordinated way with Irish aid agencies, the UN and the EU.
Amid mounting concern about the fate of three missing Irish citizens who are described as being at "high risk", Mr Ahern said the Government believed that 13 other Irish people were at "medium risk" in the aftermath of the disaster.
Ireland's Ambassador to Thailand and Malaysia, Mr Dan Mulhall, remained in Krabi in southern Thailand last night with families seeking to find missing relatives.
The missing Irish at "high risk" are: Ms Lucy Coyle, Killiney, Dublin; Mr Conor Keightley, Co Tyrone; and Mr Michael Murphy from Co Wexford.
The Minister said the Government group will assess whether Irish troops could assist in the reconstruction and recovery work. The Taoiseach had made it clear that the Government was "more than willing to do anything that we can to help within our resources", he said.
While there has been no request for military assistance from the UN, Mr Ahern said the Government could "get over" the triple-lock mechanism which requires Irish troops to participate in a UN-mandated force if they are to serve abroad. Some countries indicated that they did not need such assistance, he said.
The Cabinet will interrupt its first meeting of the new year this morning to observe a three-minute silence at 11 a.m. with staff at Government Buildings. The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said "our thoughts and prayers" were with the families of the missing.
The Minister left open the possibility that the Coalition will increase its allocation of €10 million in emergency aid. "We've already said to the NGOs that we will keep this totally open, that we're willing to come up to the plate. I don't want to say that we will match existing funds," he said.
There was a positive response from aid agencies who attended the meeting.
Mr John O'Shea of Goal said he was delighted to hear "Bertie say that effectively there's an open cheque-book here and if we go back we will get more".
The director of Trócaire, Mr Justin Kilcullen, urged the Government to put pressure on the authorities in Burma, who are believed to have down played the impact of the disaster.
"I can see a situation in two or three months where the awful truth of what happened in Burma will be revealed and the international community will stand condemned," he said.
