asked the Minister for External Affairs if he will consider offering hospitality in this country to a number of children in Vietnam who are now suffering because of war action in that country.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Vietnamese Children.
1.
So far Ireland's aid to the victims of hostilities in Vietnam has been channelled through the Irish Red Cross Society and the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva and also through Caritas Internationalis.
No request has been received for the transfer of Vietnamese children to Ireland although a few have come here under private auspices for medical treatment.
If the International Red Cross should at any time come to the conclusion that Ireland can best help by our accepting a larger number of Vietnamese children here, the Government would, of course, assist in every possible way.
May I add that the Irish Red Cross Society are at present making a public appeal for contributions to aid the Vietnamese people in their tragic plight and I hope and believe that there will be a generous response from our people to this worthy cause.
May I take it that a similar solicitude will be shown for the children of every other country which is at present the subject of an attempted Communist takeover?
The Red Cross and the Irish people try to help war victims as best they can.