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JOINT COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS debate -
Wednesday, 12 Dec 2007

Business of Joint Committee.

The minutes of the meeting of 21 November 2007 have been circulated. Are there any matters arising from them?

I propose that the committee invite the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Department of Foreign Affairs to its next meeting.

That is on a recent report.

That is agreed.

I propose the first presentation be made by the Department and the second by the Irish Human Rights Commission.

We will agree to invite both. Before proceeding to the main item of today's meeting, it is appropriate the committee registers its congratulations to the Government on its announcement in last week's Budget Statement that it will provide an additional €84 million for Ireland's overseas development programme in 2008. This increase means the total overseas aid will stand at €914 million per annum. It also ensures Ireland's aid spending will stand at 0.54% of gross national product and Ireland is well on its way to reaching the UN target of 0.7% of GNP by 2012, the year the Government is committed to reaching the target. That is three years earlier than the date set by the European Union for member states to reach the UN goal. This committee takes a special interest in Ireland's aid programme and will continue to do so, as set out in its new work programme. For this reason I believe it is appropriate that we register today our appreciation of the work done by Irish Aid, and our congratulations to the Government on its continuing commitment to Ireland's overseas development programme, as demonstrated in last week's announcement of an increase of €84 million in next year's aid budget. I am sure members will join me in agreeing to this, which I propose to issue in the form of a press release from the committee. It is something that we as a committee have pressed for in particular, and it is very good.

I am happy to agree with it and I congratulate Irish Aid on the work it does, and indeed the Government for providing funding in line with our commitments. However, I express a word of caution in that the Fine Gael group on the committee intends to examine the expenditure of these moneys to aid recipients. We must ensure that in our efforts to reach a certain funding requirement we do not lose sight of the fact that the moneys should be spent wisely. This is an issue we will examine in the months ahead.

I very much welcome the fact that we are on line to achieve the commitment. I congratulate those who have worked hard to achieve that, as well as those who will be implementing it.

On the other matter which has just been raised by my colleague, our delay in ratifying the United Nations Convention against Corruption, given the commitment in the Government White Paper on Irish Aid, it is a matter of the most serious concern. The indications are that we will not be ratifying the UN Convention against Corruption in the short term, and therefore our credibility is eroded considerably. When discussing corruption and so forth, we should make certain we have a balanced approach. I will not delay the issue, aside from saying there are two sides to any corrupt relationship. Therefore there should be transparency as regards the companies, specifically, that are dealing with resources in the Horn of Africa or elsewhere.

A positive initiative that should have all-party agreement is the commission of research on anti-corruption measures. The Scandinavian countries assist through their aid programmes considerable amounts of studies on measures such as initiating radio stations and newspapers, for example, which carry reports on what has been allocated centrally. This has reduced regional corruption in some of the African countries. It is a something to be positive about which the committee should recommend.

The Deputy mentioned two sides, but I always tend to think of three sides, thethird side being the bankers who take the money in the first instance and hold it without showing it. That is the biggest issue of all. There is a great deal of detail all the way down because of the systems—

One hopes this is not the reason we are not ratifying the convention.

I doubt it, but we have disclosure here of ill-gotten gains. That is something the committee can pursue subsequently. We wrote to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform about that before this committee was reformed. In any event, we shall pursue it again.

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