I thank the select committee for giving me the opportunity to come before it. I will discuss Vote 28 and leave Vote 29 to my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan.
The Department underlines the significance of the large increases in Vote 29, which we give towards the eradication of poverty and the promotion of sustainable development. ODA this year will reach €546 million when contributions from other Departments are factored in. It is the highest ever allocated in the history of the aid programme and well above the European Union average. We are committed to increasing this allocation by €65 million in both 2006 and 2007. This will bring aid by Ireland to €1.8 billion for the years 2005 to 2007, inclusive. That is a significant achievement. We should be proud of our exemplary aid record when we consider the quality of our programme, which was confirmed and reiterated in a report this week.
As regards Vote 28, the total amount allocated for 2005 is more than €228 million. With revenue from passport, consular and other fees expected to be €40 million this year, the net allocation to the Department is just over €188 million. It is not possible to review all areas of the Department's work. However, the resources allocated to the Department mean that it will continue its efforts to promote and protect Ireland's interests abroad. Such interests include the protection of Irish citizens abroad. The importance of the Department's role in this regard was demonstrated during the tragedy brought about by the tsunami in south-east Asia.
The Department will continue its work in the areas of trade, investment and culture. We will continue with our measured expansion, which will see the opening of six new missions this year in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania and Vietnam. This will complete our programme of opening missions in the European Union and accession states and will extend our network in Asia. Our expansion in Europe is in response to the new and more complex realities in which we find ourselves in an enlarged European Union. A new mission in Vietnam will allow us to extend our aid programme to that country and also to develop trade links in the region in line with the Government's Asian strategy.
As members will be aware, the Department has invested in recent years, particularly this year, in the passport service in order to provide a better service for the public and produce more secure passports. The funding in the Vote means we will continue with this investment in 2005. The new passport has been in production since last year and has received widespread praise for its excellent quality. Some 73,000 new passports were issued by the Department in May alone, the highest on record for any month. There was a 12% increase in the number of passports issued between January and May this year, compared with the same period last year. This proves that the investment the Oireachtas has dedicated to the passport service in recent years is now bearing fruit. With this funding available and in partnership with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, my Department is also developing a new visa system which will help modernise and streamline the visa process.
That is an outline of ongoing developments in the Department of Foreign Affairs. Today, however, with the committee's permission, I would like to concentrate on four key areas of work, namely, the development of a programme to support the Irish abroad, ongoing developments in the European Union in the wake of the outcome of the referenda in France and the Netherlands, an update on my role as envoy to the United Nations and the Secretary General in the lead up to the millennium summit in September and our ongoing work to achieve the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
Regarding the Irish abroad, our key objective last year was to secure a significant increase in financial support for emigrants. I am happy to say that I achieved that objective. In 2005 my Department's funding for emigrant services is €8.273 million, an increase of 63% on the previous year. That is the highest ever allocation and an important milestone in our developing relationship with the Irish emigrant community abroad. During my travels to America and the UK, all the community groups were very complimentary about the increased allocation.
The Government's commitment to our emigrants has never been in doubt. Our capacity to support them financially is strong and growing. Funding for emigrant services is now eight times higher than in 1997 when the Government entered office. This year's substantial allocations, together with the establishment of a dedicated Irish abroad unit in my Department last year, reflect our firm determination to promote and protect the interests of our community abroad, particularly the more vulnerable and marginalised elements.
I am pleased to note that groups in the voluntary sector at home and abroad recognise that determination and have warmly welcomed developments. In turn, we are deeply appreciative of the work of those frontline organisations whose sensitive and effective activities make a critical contribution towards improving the lives of our communities abroad. We are determined to continue the financial support and maintain very open lines of communication with them.
We want to ensure that we are aware of and continue to respond to the needs of those at greatest risk of exclusion, in particular. The bulk of this year's allocation will be distributed to organisations helping vulnerable and marginalised Irish people in Britain. The DION committee which advises me on the welfare of our community in Britain is considering grant applications and will forward its recommendations to me shortly. I expect that grants to groups in Britain this year will amount to €7 million, representing an increase of 60% on last year's final allocation. I also intend to significantly increase the funding available to groups in the United States. Irish emigrant centres in the US provide invaluable support and advice for our community and their work is of particular relevance at this complex time of change in that country, especially for the undocumented Irish people resident there. Funding by my Department to those groups increased by 83% last year. We will continue to support their important work.
I pay tribute to the work of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs which, together with other Members of the Oireachtas, has worked tirelessly on behalf of the undocumented Irish in the US. The committee visited the US last week and did excellent work. I have seen all the press comments in the US in that regard and compliment the members who travelled. Quite apart from my trips, those of other Ministers and the work of the embassy and consulates in the US, it is important that parliamentary pressure be exerted in respect of this issue.
The work that I did will greatly support efforts being made to lobby hard and obtain the best possible outcome for the undocumented Irish in the US. We have been able to significantly increase our funding to organisations in Ireland engaged in providing pre-departure information, assisting returning emigrants and enhancing co-ordination between emigrant organisations at home and abroad. Earlier this year I was happy to announce grants totalling €225,000 in support of such projects. My Department's funding for initiatives in Ireland is already up 72% on last year.
We will continue to ensure that the needs of our emigrants abroad are accorded the highest priority and that our response is effective and developed further in the period ahead. The funding allocated this year has enabled us to make significant headway in the area.
I will now turn to a major policy issue for all Europeans, that of the European constitution. The "NO" votes in the referenda on the European constitution in France and the Netherlands have created a complex and difficult situation. However, the Government remains committed to the constitution and continues to make preparations for its ratification. As members are aware, we have published the Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2005. It will be important to have a full collective discussion at this week's European Council. We hope the way forward may be somewhat clearer thereafter.
The constitution primarily consolidates and restates the basic rules covering the European Union. These have been updated and adapted to serve the recently enlarged Union of 25 countries, soon to be 27, with a population of 450 million. The basic rules have not fundamentally altered. The institutional balance and policy mix which have served us well over the last 30 years or so are not in question.
Europe has been good for Ireland. In addition to immense financial transfers, membership of the European Union has delivered access to a large market and the right to a seat at the table where the market is regulated. That access to the decision-making process has enabled Ireland, as a small, open, exporting economy, to promote and protect its interests and to thrive.
When we joined the European Union, we collectively had personal incomes at approximately 60% of the European average. Today, our incomes are well above that average. Trade deficits were the norm but ours is now a robustly exporting country. We then had rights to a market of a few million people, now we have rights and opportunities in a market of several hundred million. We were vulnerable to the whims of others regarding where and how we could sell our goods, now we sit at a rule-making table of the most powerful trading bloc in the world. The record is positive and we have also benefited politically, socially and culturally, widening our horizons without losing our identity.
For 30 years we have played a full role in setting and abiding by the rules and wielding influence in the Union. Yesterday's agreement at the GAERC to accord official and working status in the European Union to the Irish language was good for Ireland and the Union. The agreement demonstrates that the voice of a small member state in an enlarged Union can be heard and its traditions respected. The support of member states for the Government's proposal shows that the principle of solidarity is alive and well in today's Union. This is the context within which we must see the European constitution from Ireland's perspective. Would the constitution help Europe to function better without changing its character? The Government believes the answer is yes. That is why we remain committed to the European constitution.
I was honoured last April when the UN Secretary General Mr. Annan, appointed me as one of five envoys charged with advocating the balanced set of measures proposed in his report entitled, In Larger Freedom. My role is to encourage governments to take the decisions necessary to ensure success at the UN summit in September. We need to restore the momentum to achieve the millennium development goals at that summit and we need a more credible and effective system of collective security.
The UN's human rights machinery must function as the charter intended. It must not be used as a shield for human rights abusers and the UN's structures, institutions and management practice must be reformed in order that these objectives can be achieved. In his report the Secretary General put forward a set of recommendations that offer the best opportunity available to achieve these aims. He appreciates, however, that it is not just a matter of developing the recommendations. Political momentum in support of them must be generated and sustained. This momentum must be built despite deeply held concerns on the part of members and, at times, dramatically contrasting perspectives. My appointment as envoy indicates how much Ireland values the United Nations and vice versa.
I have also been gratified by the level of interest shown by all sides of the Oireachtas in respect of the Government's approach to the summit. The Secretary General asked me to focus my efforts on Europe. None of the envoys is, however, confined in his or her activities to any one geographic area and in addition to my meetings with European colleagues, I have recently undertaken several bilateral meetings as envoy with colleagues from a range of Latin American and Arabian states. To date, I have met 31 of my counterparts in capitals and at meetings, including the recent Council of Europe summit in Warsaw, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in Sweden, the EU-Rio group meeting and the Euro-Mediterranean ministerial meeting in Brussels. I have an ongoing programme of meetings into July and in the lead-up to the September summit. I will continue my efforts to assist the Secretary General in achieving a positive outcome at that summit.
The Chairman invited me to come before the committee. I understand some members were of the view that I should have come sooner because decisions were pending. I assure members that no decisions are pending as such and that ongoing consultations will continue until September. I am more than willing to brief members, whether of the joint committee or the select committee, when my diary permits. I am aware that they have been lobbied on these matters, particularly in regard to the Security Council.
I wish to address some of the ongoing developments in respect of the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. During the past year the Government has continued its efforts to achieve a full implementation of the Agreement. In particular, we have worked to obtain definitive closure on paramilitary activity and capability and to secure the stable operation of the political institutions on an inclusive basis. The talks convened by the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister at Leeds Castle last September made encouraging progress in this direction. Discussions and contacts continued with the parties during the autumn with a view to obtaining a comprehensive agreement that would resolve the crux issues.
Both Governments tabled their proposals for such a comprehensive agreement on 8 December. The political aspects of those proposals secured the assent of the largest Unionist and Nationalist parties, namely, the DUP and Sinn Féin. Regrettably, however, agreement was not reached in regard to the transparency aspects of arms decommissioning and the ending of IRA criminality. While the proposals of 8 December failed to achieve the required comprehensive agreement, they represent, particularly in respect of the constructive DUP engagement, considerable progress. However, the IRA Northern Bank raid of 20 December was a major setback for this process and raised profound questions about the strategic intentions of the provisional movement.
On 25 January the Government met the Sinn Féin leadership and informed it that continuing IRA paramilitarism and criminality represent the primary obstacle to the full implementation of the Agreement and that unless this was definitively removed from the equation, there would be no prospect of restoring inclusive government in Northern Ireland. Mr. Gerry Adams's appeal on 6 April to the IRA represents the Sinn Féin response to the message received from the Government in January. We are told that the IRA is involved in a process of internal consultation, the outcome of which is awaited. I sincerely hope it delivers the clarity and certainty that is required if there is to be any chance of restoring the political institutions in Northern Ireland. Unless the outcome clearly and decisively addresses the issue of IRA paramilitary and criminal activity and the complete decommissioning of its weapons, it will not have the confidence-building impact required to get the devolved institutions up and running again.
Assuming that the IRA meets the challenge of this closure, there will then be a major onus of responsibility on those in the DUP, as the political leaders of unionism, to engage positively with a view to restoring the power-sharing institutions in Northern Ireland. With the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I will meet the DUP in London tomorrow. If IRA paramilitarism is resolved and this is objectively verified by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning and the Independent Monitoring Commission, there is no valid reason that the DUP should not embrace the practice of partnership politics.
The Good Friday Agreement is much wider than the operation of devolved government in Northern Ireland. It also involves the operation of the constitutions that cover the key North-South and east-west dimensions. As a result of suspension, the North-South Ministerial Council cannot meet. Nevertheless, the Government attaches the highest priority to maintaining and advancing the North-South dimension. We are committed to driving forward practical North-South co-operation to the mutual benefit of people on both parts of the island and will proactively pursue this agenda with the British Government during the coming months.
On the east-west track and despite suspension, the Government is pleased that the British-Irish Council continues its valuable work of promoting co-operation in a wide range of practical areas, meeting most recently at summit level in the Isle of Man last month.
The Good Friday Agreement is also about normalising society in Northern Ireland in terms of policing, justice, human rights and equality. A great deal of constructive change has taken place in these areas and progress on policing has been a major achievement of the Agreement. Under the leadership of the policing board and the Chief Constable, policing has moved to embrace the vision of the Patten report. Community policing is a partnership between the police force and the community it seeks to serve. Where the SDLP has shown leadership and courage, Sinn Féin has shown caution and conservatism. The continued refusal of Sinn Féin to join in this key project is an obstacle to its full completion.
In terms of making justice available to all, Sinn Féin's reluctance to engage with or encourage others to engage with the PSNI to bring the killers of Robert McCartney to justice hampered and delayed that investigation. This is a particularly high profile case but it is only one among many frustrated by Sinn Féin's attitude to policing and the justice system.
Inquiries have been launched into the murders of Robert Hamill, Rosemary Nelson and Billy Wright and my Department will monitor and report on progress made in these cases. Regarding the proposed inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane, the committee is aware that the Taoiseach shares the concerns of the Finucane family about the new British Inquiries Act under which the inquiry is to be convened. While the difference of view between the Governments on this issue is substantial, talks at official level are ongoing.
Reconciliation in Northern Ireland and between both parts of the island is a long-term project which requires sustained commitment. Through its operation of the reconciliation fund and the supportive role it plays in the International Fund for Ireland and the EU PEACE programme, my Department continues to promote contact, dialogue and reconciliation between all traditions on this island.
The Government will continue to press for progress in the weeks and months ahead. The Taoiseach and Prime Minister remain in close and regular contact and will meet again tomorrow in London. I will be part of a delegation led by the Taoiseach to meet the DUP. An important meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference will take place later this month. We will avail of all of these opportunities for contact and engagement with the parties in Northern Ireland. All Northern Ireland parties with significant mandates, including the SDLP, the UUP, Alliance, the DUP and Sinn Féin, have important roles to play and we value and appreciate all contributions. The full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement remains an imperative because it is what the people of Ireland solemnly voted for and what we must deliver.
I touched on a number of key policy areas which I know are of interest to committee members. I did not address a number of other policy matters but perhaps the question and answer session will allow us to elicit some information. I understand my colleague will also speak.
