Vol. 425 No. 7
94 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the purposes of our overseas development aid programme; his views on whether an aid is a fund to boost Irish business interests overseas or is principally intended to help southern hemisphere countries which are poor to become self-sufficient.
The purpose of Irish Official Development Assistance is to increase the capacity of the beneficiary countries to deal with the problems of their development and, in particular, to help to meet the needs of the most disadvantaged in the target countries. In order to meet this objective, Ireland makes available to the beneficiary countries, either bilaterally or through international agencies and organisations, manpower, training, skills and material resources.
Where it is possible and appropriate to do so, the resources made available under the programme are sourced in Ireland. In addition, my Department encourages and assists Irish companies and individuals to compete for contracts in the aid field with, in particular, international agencies such as the EC, the UN and the World Bank. Of course, the primary aim of ODA is the development of the beneficiary countries.
