Vol. 521 No. 3
9 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will give an assessment of EU foreign aid policies, particularly in view of recent complaints by a person (details supplied) that the EU's aid delivery is the worst in the world. [16910/00]
In May 1999 the Development Council considered the results of a number of detailed independent evaluations of European Community development assistance. On the policy side, the evaluations identified the absence of an integrated up-to-date statement on overall EU development policy as contributing to a lack of coherence in the delivery of EU aid. The Council called on the Commission to prepare a draft policy statement on EC development aid to be presented to the Council in 2000.
In May 2000, the Commission published a communication on EC development aid policy which was discussed by the Council at its meeting on 18 May. The draft policy statement set out in the communication seeks to strengthen the poverty focus of all Community aid programmes. It also proposes streamlining the programme by focusing it on areas where action by the Community has a clear comparative advantage.
The communication also highlights the need for greater coherence between the Community's aid programme and other external policies such as in the trade area. The Commission announced that it will soon present an action plan dealing with coherence. It is also strengthening its internal procedures to ensure greater coherence in policy making.
On the management side, the external evaluations were very critical of the Commission's performance. In response to this external criticism the Commission has accepted that "EC external assistance programmes have a reputation for slow and unresponsive delivery, poor quality and excessively centralised and rigid procedures". The most visible expression of this inefficiency is in the huge backlog, now estimated at 20 billion euros, of aid funds that have been committed to aid programmes and projects but have yet to be disbursed. The average delay in disbursing committed funds has increased from three years to four and a half years during the past five years.
On 16 May the Commission published a communication on the reform of the management of external assistance. That communication, together with the communication on aid policy, laid the foundations for a much needed thorough reform of the Community's external assistance programme. The communication on reform of aid management sets out a radical programme for restructuring aid management. That includes a move to the multi-annual programming of aid, the strengthening of internal evaluation mechanisms, the location of all phases in the identification and implementation of an aid project within the one unit instead of being dispersed among numerous directorates and greater decentralisation of decision making to Commission offices in the field. The communication sets the objective of creating a new body for the delivery of EC aid which might even be established outside of the Commission.
While accepting much of the criticism leveled against the EC aid programme, the Commission also notes that some reform measures are outside its control. In particular, it points to the need for budgetary approval for additional staff to reflect the fact that the Commission has had to undertake significant new aid commitments, particularly in the Balkans. It also calls for less micro-management by the member states of aid projects through the proliferation of management committees that oversee Commission activities.
Ireland has been deeply concerned about the effectiveness of the Community aid programme. For some time we have been critical of the excessive internal bureaucracy that has caused significant delays in the delivery of aid, including urgently needed food aid. We have also called for a greater poverty focus in the delivery of aid and for more EC aid to be spent in the least developed countries.
As the world's fifth largest aid donor and the world's largest donor of emergency humanitarian aid, the Community is a crucial partner for developing countries. There is room for significant improvement in the implementation of this huge and complex aid programme. I welcome these two important recent Commission communications which represent a comprehensive attempt by the Commission to rectify serious policy and management weaknesses. Ireland will press for the speedy implementation of the Commission's management reform programme and for the early adoption by the Council of an overall EU policy on development assistance.
Is the Minister aware that Clare Short, Britain's International Development Secretary, has criticised the EU's aid delivery as being the worst in the world? What is his response to that description? Is it the case that about 25% of the 1999 Irish aid budget was channelled through the EU? Does he consider some of this money would have been better spent and administered on a national basis through our NGOs who do fantastic work?
In relation to the community aid programme, about 15% of the total aid budget goes to the Irish NGO programme. There is a need for capacity building within the NGO sector to ascertain in what way it can deal with further participation by NGOs in our aid programme to lead to economically sustainable programmes that will allow capacity building within developing counties. They are not concerned only or focused solely on emergency aid programmes. As partners in the UN and in the European Union, we have international obligations to provide a contribution to these organisations who also have a role in this area. It would remiss of Ireland not to make those contributions given our international standing and obligations as members of those organisations. We have been very strong in our criticism of the mechanisms used internally in those organisations, particularly the EU which is under discussion here, in terms of how they deliver programmes. Given the external evaluation and the two Commission communications to which I referred in my reply, there has been a pretty frank admission of the need for serious and fundamental reform. As members of the Union, our job is to ensure that reform is implemented.
Does the Minister agree that the EU's record on aid delivery is the worst in the world? That is a major indictment. Clare Short went on to say "We are flinging money around for political gestures rather than promoting real development". Does the Minister agree with that assessment?
Clare Short has her own inimitable way of expressing her opinions. I am expressing mine, perhaps in my own inimitable way but with more caution, as the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, who is unfortunately unable to be here today, is more expert than I in the detail of this area. As the world's largest donor of emergency aid and the world's fifth largest donor of aid generally, it is an issue of serious concern that 20 billion euros of aid funds based on commitments made have not yet been disbursed, and that must be addressed. As to whether the EU's record on aid delivery is the worst in the world, I am not qualified to say, but I accept it is not the best in the world.
Is it true that our efforts and the efforts of our NGOs are being frustrated to an appalling degree by red tape in many of the countries to which we give aid? At a meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday a representative of Concern informed us that there is still 95% duty payable on lorries and other vehicles brought out to Ethiopia to distribute aid. While the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, seems to have got an agreement that this duty would be eliminated, that has not been done. Much of our effort is being dissipated due to obstruction by Governments such as the Ethiopian government.
I can bring the Deputy's concerns to the attention of the Minister of State when she returns with a view to bringing forward a more considered reply to the Deputy's supplementary question. Our development aid programme has been externally evaluated by the OECD and we are highly praised for the criteria we used, the objectivity of that criteria and the system we have utilised for the delivery of Irish Aid, as it is known throughout the world. We are currently preparing a memorandum for Government to ascertain how we can increase the level of aid in volume terms and in percentage terms over the period to meet our UN obligations over time. We also need to establish what that will involve, given the significant volume increase envisaged, subject to Cabinet approval. Such an increase would be based on the need to develop our systems and increase the number of personnel to ensure an accountability mechanism is in place to avoid a replication of the unfortunate experience of the EU programme where political commitments are being made at Council level without the necessary systems of management being in place in terms of resources and personnel to ensure that those programmes are delivered equitably and efficiently.
Does the Minister agree that, with someone like John O'Shea, it is far more productive to channel the money through NGOs than the UN, the EU or, in many cases, corrupt Governments, and that perhaps should be the way forward?
I do not believe that is exclusively the case. The objective of our aid programme is to build capacity within developing countries so that they can produce sustainable programmes for their people and build up their own expertise. NGOs have a very important role to play. Ireland's reputation is greatly enhanced by the outstanding work our NGOs do throughout the world. They are part of our aid programme. They are particularly good at delivering certain types of programmes and they will continue to be an important part of our aid programme.
With regard to the proposed improvement and increase in the level of development aid in the future, subject to Cabinet approval, there is also the need for our NGOs to ensure that they build sufficient capacity to develop programmes that are not simply project led but that adopt a sustainable programme approach that will bring long-term benefit. At times of humanitarian disaster and catastrophe there will be a need for emergency aid. In many cases that is the time the mass media highlight the human suffering famine and disaster bring, but in the background we must always remember it is the operational slog of the developing programmes, which have a long-term sustainable benefit in these countries, that will ultimately determine the success or relative failure of our policies.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.
