Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 March 2005
117 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the matter of Ireland’s contribution to overseas development aid was raised during his recent meeting with the Secretary General of the United Nations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7641/05]
View answerMy colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, had a meeting with the Secretary General in New York in February. The Minister assured the Secretary General of Ireland's support for the United Nations Organisation and for its development funds and programmes and underlined our continued commitment to work towards the millennium development goals. He briefed Secretary General Annan on his visit to the Indian Ocean region in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster and noted how important it was that the United Nations should be at the centre of the action there. The Secretary General welcomed Ireland's support.
Secretary General Annan has expressed his praise for Ireland's development co-operation programme on several occasions recently. When he visited Ireland last October, the Secretary General commended Ireland's longstanding commitment to development and our work to achieve the millennium development goals and to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa. When I met the Secretary General in January at the international meeting of the small island developing states, he expressed appreciation of Ireland's response to the tsunami disaster.
