DIRECT HUMANITARIAN AID will be provided to families in Creeslough who were impacted by the explosion last Friday, the Cabinet has agreed today.

Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys announced the plan this afternoon, saying that the Government’s humanitarian fund would be extended to families who were directly impacted by the tragedy.

“This morning, Cabinet gave approval to extend access to the humanitarian fund to households directly affected by last Friday devastating incident on Creeslough,” said Humphreys.

This fund was previously reserved for households that had been impacted by flooding.

Under the plan, households can earn up to €70,000 and still avail of the aid.

“This is to help people that that may need to purchase personal items or may need to buy something for their home or repair something that has been damaged,” said Humphreys.

The Minister said that there are community welfare officers “on the ground” in Creeslough and that the Government will work to provide “any assistance we can in the days ahead”.

“The fact that we’re including the humanitarian fund as part of our other supports gives us even more flexibility to ensure that we can give them all the support that they need at this at this most difficult time,” added Humphreys.

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Ten people died following the explosion in Creeslough, with the first funerals taking place in the village today.

When asked about a future inquiry, Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath said that the Government was conscious that the funerals were only beginning and that it’s main priority was to ensure that supports for the families who were impacted are in place.

“Our focus for now is on ensuring that the supports are in place: health supports, psychological supports, supports in the schools and the local community, supports for the community organizations, supports for the households who have been devastated,” said McGrath.

He added that questions around what happened to cause the explosion would be investigated, but that they “weren’t really for today”.

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