Denis Naughten
Question:102 Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his plans for the distribution of overseas development aid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3946/08]
View answerWednesday, 6 February 2008
Questions (26)
Oral answers (15 contributions)
The focus of Ireland's overseas development programme is the elimination of poverty. Irish Aid works to improve access to basic health care, education, clean water and adequate housing for some of the poorest communities in the world.
The White Paper on Irish Aid, published in September 2006, identified the principles and priorities for the programme as it expands to meet the target of spending 0.7% of GNP on our ODA by 2012. It also sets out a wide range of initiatives that will be funded under the expanded aid programme. Africa will remain the principal focus of our assistance in the coming years and the number of our partner countries will increase from eight to ten. Malawi has been selected as our ninth partner country and a programme of development co-operation will begin there this year.
The struggle against HIV-AIDS is particularly important and we allocate over €100 million in respect of it and other communicable diseases every year. We also need to maintain our ability to respond quickly and effectively to humanitarian disasters. The rapid response initiative announced in the White Paper has already considerably improved our capacity to respond to these crises. Other priority areas include good governance, conflict prevention, gender and the environment.
Our commitment to working in partnership with NGOs is as strong as ever. Some of Ireland's largest NGOs will receive over €100 million from the Government this year. Irish Aid will also provide €20 million this year in support of the development work of Irish missionaries.
The United Nations has a strong mandate to tackle global poverty and Irish Aid is increasing the level of assistance channelled through specialised agencies such as UNICEF, the UNDP and the UNHCR. The European Union is the largest development assistance donor in the world and Ireland's contribution to this effort through the European Development Fund is expected to reach €206 million between 2008 and 2013. Ireland plays an active role in shaping and monitoring EU aid expenditure.
We are also working with global initiatives, particularly in the areas of health and education, to deliver long-term change. These include the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Global Alliance for Vaccinations and Immunisations.
Our plans for the distribution of Ireland's overseas development assistance are guided by the principles of partnership, transparency and effectiveness. The opening of the Irish Aid volunteering and information centre on O'Connell Street in Dublin last month will allow the public to engage more directly with development issues and with the programme as it expands in the coming years.
Some people have suggested that the model we use to dispense Irish aid generally should be reformed. I refer to the report I mentioned earlier, namely, the value for money review carried out by Irish Aid, which states that the organisation should, in addition to asking for reports on individual projects, also request external evaluations of the overall programmes to which it contributes. The report specifically recommends that Irish Aid should consider making all grants of €300,000 and above conditional on such an overall and external programme being undertaken and submitted. What is the Minister of State's reaction to the concerns expressed in respect of basic reporting requirements?
The peer reviews carried out by the OECD show that Ireland comes top of the class in the context of its aid programme. The Minister has written to the Government Chief Whip, Deputy Tom Kitt, regarding the establishment of a new foreign affairs committee and the renaming of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs.
We have our own audit committee and we work closely with other countries in respect of their auditing systems, particularly in the context of tackling corruption, a major obstacle to development. We work to strengthen judicial systems, assist civil society and support the independent media in some of the developing countries. In Zambia, for example, we are contributing to the work of a special task force on corruption. In Uganda we are supporting the reform of the justice system through the provision of additional resources for the prison system, the introduction of community service as an alternative to prison and the training of legal personnel and police and prison officers. In Ethiopia we are supporting the audit functions within the Government there. We are examining the audit issues that arise in developing countries and giving consideration to the systems employed by the Department.
Between 2007 and 2009, we will provide €1.5 million in funding to another NGO, Transparency International, to assist it in its work to raise awareness and reduce tolerance of corruption worldwide. We also work with the World Bank and United Nations agencies to agree anti-corruption and good governance strategies.
I will take a final question from Deputy Deasy.
I wish to ask a supplementary, particularly as the original question was tabled in my name.
I did not realise that was the case.
I also wish to ask a supplementary.
I will yield the floor to the Deputies.
We are over time but I will take brief supplementaries from Deputies Naughten and Barry Andrews.
I apologise to the Minister of State for not being present to hear his initial reply. Sadly, I am trying to balance committee and Dáil commitments.
The vast majority of migrants who come to Ireland do so for economic reasons. CSO figures indicate that 35,000 people from the continent of Africa are resident here. What steps are being taken to target money from the overseas development aid fund at countries from which people are migrating to Ireland and other EU member states in order that some of the economic issues arising in those countries might be resolved? We should support the development of the economies in these countries rather than, as a result of our economic circumstances, encouraging their citizens to migrate here. Would it not be better to improve the economic circumstances in their home countries rather than encourage them to come to this country to make a proper living?
There have been many problems in Kenya recently and it is easy to anticipate the difficulties that will arise in respect of the elections in Zimbabwe next month. I am disappointed that there is no intention on the part of Irish Aid to send observers to those elections. A motion agreed by the House directed the Government to take particular steps in respect of voter registration in the context of support for NGOs and the protection of human rights. The fact that we are not sending observers or even taking notice of what is due to happen next month means that we are sleepwalking towards a repeat of events in Kenya. We should be less reactive and try to be more proactive in respect of Africa.
I strongly support the comments made by Deputy Barry Andrews.
I also support the Deputy's comments.
I must inform Deputy Naughten that we are dealing with nine programme countries, seven of which are located in Africa. The Deputy's question relates to what the EU is doing in the context of integration. We are spending a major amount of money in seven of the poorest countries in Africa.
On the question put by Deputy Barry Andrews, I stated earlier that we have not received a request with regard to monitoring the elections in Zimbabwe. Such a request would normally be made via the OSCE, the United Nations or the EU. We will wait to see whether such a request is forthcoming. I will consider what the Deputy stated in respect of monitoring.
The Minister of State should investigate the matter with the OAU.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.