I thank all Members for their wide-ranging contributions today. I also thank them for their support for the programme and the work being done by Irish Aid. It is right that they should question various aspects of the work of Irish Aid in the context of whether or not it is effective or should be refocused in certain areas.
Ireland is regarded as a world leader in the delivery of effective and quality programmes. The most recent OECD report in this respect puts us first in the world. We are providing value for money and have an effective track record to date. We are currently reviewing the 2006 White Paper, which is a fine document, and analysing where we are at in terms of what has been achieved and where we are going into the future in terms of changing circumstances.
Ireland has a legacy in regard to Irish Aid which dates back centuries to when the missionaries went to work in the poorest of poor countries throughout the world, providing therein education, health and other services to people at the bottom of the pile. This has been done for many decades throughout the world. In many ways, we are retracing the steps of the missionaries. Irish Aid was established in 1974 by former Taoiseach, Dr. Garret FitzGerald. It is not as old as people might think. Its focus has always been to seek out the poorest of the poor and as such that is where our programmes are concentrated.
It was agreed in the 2006 White Paper that we would try to work with ten programme countries. We currently work with nine programme countries, seven of which are based in Sub-Saharan Africa, which is regarded as the poorest area in the world. The general estimate is that if things there continue as they are 50% of all the world's poor will by 2030 be concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa. As such we face a challenge. This is the view of all international agencies including the United Nations, OECD and the European Union. We also have programmes in Vietnam, which was recovering from a terrible war with the United States and in Timor Leste. Ireland played a proud role in the independence of East Timor. Senator Norris, Tom Hyland and others were very much involved in that work. They are the countries on which we have concentrated our aid.
Everywhere we have gone we have always asserted and articulated that the underlying principle of our programmes is human rights. As mentioned by many Members, including the Chairman, we have never had a tied aid programme. However, there is one condition attached to our aid and that is human rights. We have articulated that from street to governmental level. The starting point for discussions with government Ministers in Ethiopia and Malawi, both of which I visited during the past two months, was their human rights record. That is the case everywhere we go.
In reviewing the White Paper we are looking at how we are going to move forward in changing circumstances from our own point of view. We have lost 30% of our funding. However, it has stabilised this year in that it has only dropped by 0.1% despite having dropped 10% during the previous three years. We must consider how we move from emerging situations into sustainable and self sufficiency situations. Deputy O'Sullivan was correct in terms of her comments in regard to shared sustainable growth. We are looking at this as a partnership between a donor and poor recipient, which has been the view for a long time. We want to build on this. Obviously donor countries are countries that have money to give but the recipient countries are anxious to be treated as equals. They want to be viewed as receiving a hand up rather than a hand out. We must take this into consideration.
I recall the degree of enthusiasm among representatives of the African union countries at the summit in Ethiopia for a new dimension to our relationship. While they believe the aid dimension is worthwhile and it is appreciated, they see a move towards a trade, investment and business dimension as permitting them to deal with us on an equal basis. They believe this new dimension should be complementary with Irish Aid. The challenge we face as we begin the review process is how we are going to take into consideration changing circumstances on the African continent. There have been some emerging countries in that area. Africa has had a 6% to 7% growth rate over the past five or six years and it is estimated it will grow by 5% to 6% over the next five or six years. That is very unequal, as it is in so many other emerging countries. We have to take that into consideration. How do we best provide assistance and expertise? How do we best engage in trade with countries where our previous engagement involved nothing but the provision of aid? How do we marry the two? How do we make sure we do not go down the road of a tied aid process, as some other countries have done? The manner in which minerals, etc., are extracted from various poor African countries as part of such a process might be described as exploitative to some degree. We have to ensure African countries get the added value that might not be available at present.
A number of members referred to the new agricultural fund that has been established across the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Agriculture, Food and the Marine, both of which have invested €1 million in the fund. The purpose of the bilateral agreement between the two Departments is to ensure they work together as part of a more holistic approach, as opposed to a single Department being involved.
The area of agriculture is crucial in all parts of the underdeveloped world. We have some of the best agricultural expertise in the world. We need to bring that to bear in developing countries by helping to improve the quality of the crops, increase production levels, etc. Standards need to be raised so that these countries can sell their agricultural products on the international market. In many cases, they are unable to do so at present. The pilot scheme we are operating in this key area can probably be extended to most countries in Africa.
Other Departments can also be of assistance in the broader frame of things. It is obvious that there is expertise in the Department of Education and Skills, as there is in the Department of Health. The Department of Finance can help on tax collection and revenue matters. The Department of Justice and Equality can help on good quality policing practices. We can look at all of these areas.
We should also re-examine the question of volunteering. Quite recently, some 8,000 people in this country between the ages of 55 and 65, who were at the top of their professions, retired suddenly. Many of them were working in areas like education, health, prisons, policing and the Army. We need to consider whether we can tap into that cohort of people and avail of their expertise. There are opportunities in that regard.
Looking at the broad picture, many circumstances have changed. Irish Aid has moved from its mission background to the provision of food during famine emergencies. It is also involved in education and health. It has achieved significant successes along the way. I will mention some of the areas where Ireland has been involved. The risk of children in Ethiopia dying before they reach their fifth year has almost been halved since 2000, when we got involved. We made a contribution to that improvement. Members of the committee might have witnessed some of the programmes there, which are second to none. Poverty levels in Uganda have fallen dramatically from 53% in 1992 to 23% in 2010. More than 66,000 pregnant women in Mozambique have received treatment to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV. There has been a substantial decrease in such transmissions.
Ireland has supported a Government programme in Malawi that is providing 1.6 million farmers with subsidised fertilisers and seeds. As a result of the programme, in just a few years Malawi has moved from being a net importer of maize to a net exporter. That is a huge change for any country. Obviously, that has been of enormous benefit to people and their families. Some 3,600 orphans and vulnerable children in Lesotho are attending secondary school with the support of Irish Aid. Over the last two decades, primary school enrolments in Ethiopia have quadrupled and the number of people with access to clean water has more than doubled. We have to consider how we can follow up on such major developments. We need to reprioritise and refocus to ensure we learn the lessons of the past and recognise that circumstances have changed. We must have best practice for the future.
It is clear that governance is a major issue. We are very concerned with that subject. We have put a lot of work into it. There is not much sense in being involved with an area where there is strong corruption, where there is pilfering or where money gets lost. We are doing a great deal of work to support the establishment of anti-corruption commissions in all of the countries in which we are involved. That is extremely beneficial. As a result of the investment we have made in personnel and in structures to assist our endeavours, much of the awareness of corruption is actually coming from within those countries.
Ireland has always taken a strong position on climate change. Like the hunger task force agenda, it has been at the core of much of the work we have done. Next year, during Ireland's Presidency of the EU, we will organise an international conference in conjunction with the Mary Robinson Foundation to highlight the question of hunger, nutrition, climate justice and climate change. We will focus on the links within the global community in that respect.
I wish to mention an issue that is of interest to the Chairman as a representative of the Clare constituency. One of the priorities set out in the programme for Government is the establishment of a humanitarian hub. We are making progress with that by conducting a study to determine how feasible such an operation would be. We have been speaking to Commissioner Georgieva about it. We would like this committee and the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs to make as much progress as possible with this issue. Ever since the Lisbon treaty was adopted, a new statutory commitment to humanitarian aid and the eradication of poverty has been included within the treaties of the EU. We believe it would be most appropriate for it to be located in an area like Shannon, which has enormous capacity for every aeroplane under the sun. It could be the hub where supplies for emergencies like tsunamis and famines could be located before being transported to disaster areas or flashpoints at short notice. That is another area that could be examined in the context of the review of the White Paper.
I would like to address the question of multilateral co-ordination. We make contributions at UN and EU levels. Senator Daly is not present. We are still in receipt of more money from the EU than we provide to it. We are not directly involved in the funding of the EU's External Action Service. We provide money to the European Development Fund. We contribute to a multilateral fund with the EU. We are anxious for that funding to be used in a co-ordinated fashion. The bilateral arrangements within the EU level and the UN arrangements should be of the highest order.
The EU accounting and transparency directives are being revised at present. Consideration is being given to how private sector engagement takes place at a multinational level. There will be much closer examination and oversight of the manner in which the multinational companies of the EU are involved in poorer countries. Ireland is taking a strong position on that as it is being progressed. We want to ensure the private sector is engaged. While we want the private sector to become engaged, we want to ensure its involvement in the world's poorest countries is not predatory or exploitative. We are very anxious to develop the African strategy in that respect. A number of people asked how we would manage the private and aid sectors. The private sector is very interested and we have met its representatives. Approximately 150 companies, represented in the Smurfit School when the African strategy was announced, expressed interest in engagement. There is much engagement already in that Irish companies have created approximately 13,000 jobs in South Africa. They are interested in expanding into other countries.
We are very anxious that the engagement of the private sector be ethical. The Department has much of the necessary expertise and has advisory material from Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia, the IDA, etc. We have personnel in our embassies focusing on trade matters. The embassy is the great unit of operation. It provides backup in the distribution of Irish aid, accounting on the ground and contacts. This applies to the African strategy, in respect of which the focus will be on the embassies in Africa. The goodwill established through Irish missionaries and which has continued under Irish Aid and the various contacts cannot be bought. This is the goodwill that we expect Irish companies that get involved to leave untarnished. We hope they engage in partnership with the African companies, and we will assist in that respect. That covers most of the issues raised.
I will conclude on the topic of awareness. It is very important that we have the support of the Irish people. While it is a fact that every penny that goes to Irish Aid must be borrowed, we are dealing with people who are infinitely poorer than we are at present. We must ask whether it is appropriate to turn our back on the legacy that has been created, dismantle all our programmes and say we will no longer deal with the aid recipients. The Irish do not want that. When there is a disaster, tsunami or famine, the Irish are the best in the world at making a contribution. They do not want their elected representatives to renege on their moral obligation.
What I have outlined will continue to be the case. It is very important that the public or taxpayer feels ownership of the programme. Reference was made to social and online media. We are putting together a new and improved website and will be continuing to highlight this so anybody who is not able to make direct contact will be well aware of our views and will be able to engage in dialogue through social media.
I thank the Chairman for the hearing. We would welcome further dialogue from the committee in regard to the submissions that have been made and future work.
