Speaking in the Dáil, the Minister for Lands and Agriculture Patrick Hogan, stated, "There is no abnormal distress in the West this year.
[citation needed] Heavy rain had caused crop failure and destroyed animal fodder, and the flooding of peat bogs had also deprived people of fuel.
[5] The Department of Local Government and Public Health insisted in February that there was no famine, merely "acute distress.
[8] An appeal for funds was made in Australia by Linda Kearns in February 1925, raising thousands of Australian pounds.
"[10] An English firm offered to send one ton of chocolate to the children of Connacht but cancelled its plans when the Irish government insisted on payment of duty on the donation.