TASMANIANS who are struggling to recover from this month's bushfires will be given more emergency cash this week.
So far $3.64 million has been donated to the Tasmanian Bushfire Appeal - an amount that does not include pledges.
A committee set up to distribute donations made through the Red Cross wants to start handing out cash this week to those who need emergency assistance.
A spokesman for the Tasmanian Bushfire Appeal Distribution Committee, which met for the first time yesterday, said: ``The aim is to get money moving for emergency assistance to those who need it as quickly as possible.''
The committee wanted to make sure that all money was allocated to those who needed it most and had asked the Tasmanian Bushfires Recovery Taskforce to provide advice. The taskforce meets today.
``The appeal distribution committee will meet again on Wednesday [tomorrow] and expects to start distributing money before the end of the week,'' the spokesman said.
Today members of the committee plan to visit areas affected by the bushfires, which include the East Coast and Tasman Peninsula, to speak to people who may benefit from donations.
Criticism has been levelled at the state government's response to the crisis, but Premier Lara Giddings said yesterday that such concerns would be addressed in an independent inquiry at the end of the bushfire season.
She said the government was doing everything it could to assist Tasmanians, who should prepare themselves for a recovery that may take up to two years to complete.
``We're in it for the long haul,'' Ms Giddings said.
``There are some things that will happen quickly, and the clean-up will be one of those . . . but other things will take a long period of time.''