Ireland sends €778k to fund burial vehicles in Ebola-ravaged country

It brings Ireland's total contribution in the affected countries in West Africa to over €18m in 2014. This includes more than €5m for Ebola treatment facilities in Sierra Leone and Liberia, as well as for contact-tracing and child nutrition programmes.

"A recently deployed member of the Irish Defence Forces, who is a qualified paramedic and has experience in special operations and medical planning, has provided important technical advice on the establishment of this fleet management programme," said Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan.

"It is vital that the international community remains engaged and vigilant in responding to the Ebola crisis," he said.

"This programme will improve the reach and effectiveness of the emergency vehicles and thus reduce Ebola transmission and mortality rates by ensuring that ambulances and other response vehicles are properly maintained, fuelled and decontaminated."

The ambulance programme is being funded jointly by Irish Aid, the Government's programme for overseas development; the UK's Department for International Development; and USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance.