I thank the committee for this opportunity to discuss Ireland's official development assistance programme. We mentioned this area when we discussed the relevant chapters in the White Paper on both development co-operation and human rights. As I said on that occasion one cannot view development co-operation in isolation from other foreign policy concerns. It is interrelated with other dimensions such as human rights, trade policy and disarmament issues.
The White Paper reiterates our commitment to the Irish bilateral aid programme as a key component of our development co-operation strategy. The cornerstone of our aid policy will continue to be long-term development with the focus on poverty reduction, basic needs and capacity building. We have added a new priority country, Mozambique. At the same time the number of crises emerging requires a new focus in our development policies on improving the response to humanitarian crises. A humanitarian liaison group and a rapid response register will be established to channel, as effectively as possible, the expertise to assist with these humanitarian emergencies.
The allocation for our voluntary contributions to UN development agencies has been increased and will allow us to support efforts to encourage the reform process to make these agencies more responsive to basic needs in the developing countries. As a small country with, in total terms, a small aid programme, our participation in the work of the UN agencies allows us to participate in larger scale programmes than we, as an individual country, could otherwise finance. This is particularly true of our involvement in organisations such as UNICEF which deals with, for example, the immunisation of children on a countrywide basis.
Subheads C to G comprise the bulk of the Government's expenditure on ODA. The total allocation under these subheads is £77.2 million, almost all of which is counted as ODA. Funding from other Departments' Votes and from central funds must be added to the money allocated under these subheads in order to reach the overall spending figure for ODA this year.
The largest items outside this Vote are: contributions to the EU Budget, £15 million; the World Bank Group, £5.4 million; and the World Food Programme, £1 million. The total spending which can be reckoned as ODA will be around £106 million in 1996 representing 0.29 per cent of estimated GNP. The ODA increases are substantial and I expect that the reaction to them will be generally favourable. While it could be said that the increase in ODA this year, like the increase in the last four years, does not amount to the level of increase promised by the Government and reiterated recently in the White Paper, that promise was for annual increases of 0.05 per cent of GNP whereas the actual increases have been smaller.
In 1992, the increase was 0.16 per cent; in 1993, it was 0.2 per cent; in 1994, it was 0.25 per cent; in 1995 it was 0.27 per cent; and this year, 1996, it is 0.29 per cent. This brings us to the highest ever level of ODA. Our GNP has been increasing so rapidly that it has been difficult to maintain the continued expansion in the programme in terms of the percentage figures.
The expenditure on ODA will be the highest ever this year, both in cash terms and as a percentage of GNP, and the White Paper on foreign policy confirms the Government's intention to continue with significant increases in ODA in the years ahead so as to put Ireland's performance on a par with that of our EU partners with the ultimate aim of meeting the UN target of 0.7 per cent.
The bilateral aid programme of £48.2 million is by far the largest figure in the ODA subhead and represents an increase of 23 per cent over the figure for 1995, which was an enormous increase over the previous year's figure. The bilateral aid programme is the principal channel through which long-term assistance to developing countries is disbursed. The bulk of it —£27 million — goes to the existing priority countries, including the two more recent ones, Ethiopia and Uganda. This year, for the first time, a country programme is being set up in Mozambique.
As set out in the White Paper, our programme in Sudan has been held at a certain level because of the human rights record of that country and its failure to address concerns we have raised. We do not foresee any increase there. In fact, the programme in that country may decline even further because of lack of response to the concerns we have expressed.
The White Paper commits Irish aid to address poverty by focusing a bilateral programme on the basic needs of poor people including primary health care, basic education, safe water supply and income generating opportunities. It also places strong emphasis on capacity building to ensure that development activities can be continued and expanded by the relevant communities and authorities in partner countries. The aim of all EU aid programmes is to strike the difficult balance between poverty reduction and basic needs which together with capacity building will allow countries to generate their own qualified manpower and personnel resources to meet their needs now and in the future.
Non-priority countries also register an increase with a large provision for assistance to South Africa, following our commitment to the democratic transformation of that country, Zimbabwe, the Palestinian territories, Cambodia, Vietnam and Bangladesh. Funding for rehabilitation assistance, which is used for reconstruction after major emergencies either natural or man-made continues with an allocation of £3 million for 1996. The recipients will be Rwanda, Somalia and the former Yugoslavia. In keeping with our policy that human rights and good governance are vital for real development we are allocating £1 million for the human rights and democratisation budget.
Co-financing of aid projects with NGOs is also under this subhead. This is the scheme where modest grants are made available to NGOs, such as Concern, Goal, Trócaire and the missionary orders. The increase from £4.3 million to £5.4 million, or 25 per cent, brings this year's allocation into line with the outturn for 1995. As I said last year, this heading is dear to the hearts of many Members because it allows individual Irish missionaries, who are very often in remote and far flung places, to get an endorsement and assistance from the Irish aid programme, whether it is to add a room to a school, build a science laboratory or give equipment to a small rural hospital.
Other areas provided for include; development education with an allocation of £1 million which covers the National Committee for Development Education administrative budget and funding for disbursement of grants; co-financing with multilateral organisations with an allocation of £1.6 million — trust funds at the World Bank Group of organisations simultaneously assist developing countries and provide opportunities for Irish consultants; and fellowships to enable students from the Third World to study in Ireland which has an allocation of £1 million.
The cost of staffing and running the aid programme increases by 16 per cent. At £1.8 million it remains modest in terms of the overall size of the programme. We are very lucky to have departmental and contract staff of the highest calibre working on our various programme both at home and abroad.
APSO continues to increase the number of volunteers placed overseas. Its budget is increased accordingly by 24 per cent to £10.5 million. It placed 1,266 volunteers last year and its target for this year is 1,350. The Government has indicated that APSO should move towards a target of 2,000 placements. Most people would regard this as ambitious and concern has been expressed that the quality of the placements could suffer in the struggle to achieve the numerical target. As mentioned in the White Paper, we are increasingly encouraging local involvement and local capacity building and placement of Irish technical assistance is not intended to block opportunities for locally qualified people, but rather to enhance their capacity. The overall target of 2,000 should be seen in that context.
The allocation for emergency humanitarian assistance is £5.5 million, which is down 3 per cent on the 1995 outturn of £5.65 million. There were exceptional demands for emergency assistance last year in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The emergency fund can be distributed rapidly in response to the sudden onset of emergencies and is generally channelled through Irish NGOs, UN agencies such as UNHCR, the Red Cross and other voluntary agencies. One new proposal outlined in the White Paper is the establishment of a humanitarian liaison group and a rapid response register to channel as effectively as possible the expertise of Irish people to assist in humanitarian emergencies abroad.
Subhead F relates to the international funds for developing countries. These are fixed contributions, for the European development fund it is £6.3 million and for the international fund for agricultural development it is £200,000.
Subhead G relates to voluntary contributions to the UN development agencies. An increase of 18 per cent in this subhead brings the figure for 1996 to £6.5 million, compared with £5.5 million in 1995. The chief beneficiaries of the increase are UNICEF, the UNDP and the UNHCR. These are the three largest agencies of the UN in the field of development. Unease is sometimes expressed by NGOs and others interested in aid at the fact that Ireland is increasing its voluntary contributions to these UN bodies. People are concerned that money is being put into large agencies which do not have adequate levels of accountability.
It should be pointed out that Ireland has always supported the principles and philosophies of the UN. We are committed to making it work again as an effective world body to bring about peace, justice and development. Ireland's contributions to the UN agencies are still small both in cash and GNP terms by comparison with our partners and the total involved is much less than bilateral expenditure under the aid programme.
Subhead H provides £305,000 for the refugee agency, a non-statutory body under the aegis of the Department of Foreign Affairs. It is responsible for the reception and resettlement of programme refugees admitted to Ireland. The substantial increase of 42 per cent in this subhead reflects the increased demands in the context of the refugee intake from Bosnia Herzegovina following the Government decision in August 1995 and includes additional staff for the agency.
The refugee agency will co-operate with the relevant international organisations — the OSCE and the UNHCR — in facilitating Bosnian refugees in Ireland to participate in the forthcoming elections in Bosnia Herzegovina. The process of voter registration is expected to begin in the next couple of weeks.
Subhead I provides £179,000 for assistance to eastern Europe. There is a slight drop in last year's outturn of £180,000. The number of applicants for bilateral funding for eastern Europe has dropped, presumably because consultants are benefiting from the PHARE and TACIS schemes.
Subhead J, Appropriations-in-Aid, relates to the receipts arising from the sale of vehicles, machinery and furniture and from deposit interest received on the bank accounts of our development co-operation offices.