asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs in relation to Ireland's Bilateral Aid Programme, in respect of the most recent year for which information is available: (a) the number of people employed directly and indirectly in the programme (b) the proportion of Bilateral Aid which was expended in Ireland or on Irish personnel (c) the number of companies and consultants who were involved and (d) the activities in which they were involved.
Written Answers. - Bilateral Aid Programme.
34.
The latest figures available are for 1987. They are as follows:
(a) A total of 638 people were employed directly in 1987 in bilateral assistance provided by the Irish Government.
This total is made up of 80 employed abroad in our Bilateral Aid Programme; 455 on assignment abroad with APSO (the Agency for Personal Service Overseas); 20 employed on the headquarters staff of APSO and a further 25 employed by other smaller bodies. In addition, as noted below, some 58 consultants were employed by the Bilateral Aid Programme on an occasional basis on particular projects.
It is difficult to be specific about the level of indirect employment arising from our bilateral assistance. This arises in part through training courses here but mainly in the semi-State sector through consultancies and other projects in Third World countries in which it can be said that Irish agencies were favourably placed to become involved because of the connections and good reputation arising from our Bilateral Aid Programme. The best available estimate is that made for 1985 by DEVCO, the State Agencies' Development Co-operation Organisation, which calculated the employment arising in this way as 1,200.
(b) Approximately 70 per cent of the total of £17.29 million provided by Ireland in 1987 as bilateral assistance, was spent either on goods and services in Ireland or by way of payment to Irish personnel working with the Bilateral Aid Programme or with APSO at home or abroad.
(c) Some 58 individuals were engaged as consultants, either independently or as employees of one of the 14 consultancy companies whose services were employed under the Bilateral Aid Programme.
(d) These consultants were involved in activities which related mainly to the health, education, agricultural and other advisory programmes through which the Bilateral Aid Programme provides technical expertise, training and related goods and services in Third World countries. The following is a list of specific projects where consultants were involved: Bethlechem University, Jordan; Blood Transfusion Service, Lesotho; Centre for Accountancy Studies, Lesotho; Chilanga Cement Company, Zambia; Community Forestry, Sudan; Dairy Development, Zimbabwe; Dairy Produce Board, Zambia; Farm Animal Monitoring, Zambia; Gezira Dairy Co-operative, Sudan; Handknitting Project, Lesotho; Hololo Valley Co-operative, Lesotho; Hololo Valley Rural Development, Lesotho; Horticulture Project, Sudan; Hotel and Catering School, Zimbabwe; Institute of Animal Production, Sudan; Institute of Public Administration, Sierra Leone; Kasama Rural Water Supply, Zambia; Khartoum Polytechnic library; Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre; Kilosa Dairy Farm, Tanzania; Kilosa District Development Programme, Tanzania; Kwe Kwe College, Zimbabwe; Lesotho Airways; Lesotho Distance Teaching Centre; Lesotho National Development Corporation; Lesotho Treasury Support; Livestock Study, Sudan; Management Training, Liberia; Management Training Course, Zambia; Medical Laboratory Technicians Programme, Lesotho; National Institute of Public Administration, Zambia; Peat Development, Burundi; Peat Development and Papyrus Research, Rwanda; Pemba Livestock Improvement, Tanzania; Pilot Project in Sanitary Disposal, Kenya; Primary Health Care, Sudan; Rapid Laboratory Test Project, Zimbabwe; Shukaba National Dairy Research Centre, Sudan; Small Industries Development Organisation, Tanzania; Sokoine University, Tanzania; Tanzanian Carpet Company; Tanzanian Posts and Telecommunications; TB Control Programme, Lesotho; Technological Education Institutes, Zambia; Telephone Network Rehabilitation, Uganda; Trade Promotion, Zambia; University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania; University of Zambia; Vegetable Dehydration, Swaziland; Village Water Supply Scheme, Lesotho; Village Water Supply Scheme, Sudan; World Bank/Institute of Public Administration, Zambia.