Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 November 2012
166. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in view of the situation in Uganda, the measures and safeguards that are in place to ensure Irish aid funds are not misappropriated by other Governments and authorities that benefit from such funding. [48166/12]
View answer168. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question No. 137 of 28 February 2012, in view of recent revelations regarding direct funding to the Ugandan Government, if he will commission a full audit to be carried out of all spending on behalf of the State by Irish Aid in programme countries; if he is satisfied that direct funds from Ireland to individual Governments are not being used for the purchase of arms or other military materials or services; his views on whether it is appropriate to be providing direct funding to Governments for projects while these same Governments are purchasing arms and military capability; if he intends to review the process of direct aid to Governments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48287/12]
View answer171. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans to respond to the revelation about the misappropriation of Irish ODA to Uganda; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48398/12]
View answer172. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the total amount of Irish aid given to Uganda in 2009,2010,2011 to date in 2012; the number of staff involved, the primary goals of our engagement with the region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48399/12]
View answer176. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if the Government is going to reassess Ireland's aid giving abroad in view of what has gone on in Uganda and if there will be a policy shift and an increase in giving aid to charities based in Ireland rather than abroad also, in view of Ireland's economic difficulties and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48514/12]
View answer180. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade following on from the foreign aid which went missing in Uganda, and is believed to have been misappropriated, the further checks that will be put in place to ensure that any funds sent abroad for foreign aid are used for the purpose for which they are intended; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48653/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 166, 168, 171, 172, 176 and 180 together.
I am deeply concerned about the recent developments relating to misappropriation of Irish development funding in Uganda. Ireland has no tolerance for fraud or any other form of malfeasance in relation to our development programme. This is clearly known to all of our development partners.
I have therefore suspended all Irish development assistance which was due to be channelled through the Government of Uganda in 2012, totalling €16 million and I have initiated an investigation into the misappropriation of funds by the Office of the Prime Minister of Uganda. I have also made it clear that all necessary actions to pursue those guilty of this crime must be taken by the Ugandan authorities and that Irish funding be repaid in order that it can be used for the purposes for which it was intended, that is assisting the poor of Northern Uganda.
The Auditor General of Uganda has been carrying out a special investigation into the handling of aid funds by the Office of the Prime Minister. Ireland has been working with and assisting the office of the Auditor General as an inherent part of our programme of building accountable institutions of Government. He has visited Ireland to look at our systems of accountability. His recent report highlights significant financial mismanagement in relation to the Peace Recovery and Development Programme (PRDP) for Northern Uganda. The PRDP Programme was established to rebuild Northern Uganda, a region which has suffered dreadfully from internal conflict and the ravages of Joseph Kony and his so-called Lord’s Resistance Army. The Auditor General has found that funding of €12.6 million received from Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark last year was transferred to unauthorised accounts, of which the Irish Aid component is €4 million.
Our Ambassador in Kampala and the Director General of Irish Aid, who travelled out from Ireland, last week met with the Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Finance and Economic Development of Uganda and stressed my insistence that the misappropriated funds be restored by the Ugandan authorities. The Ugandan Government have since confirmed that all Irish Aid funds that have been misappropriated will be reimbursed, that the officials against whom financial impropriety has been established will be fully prosecuted, and that strong measures will be undertaken to tighten their internal controls. I welcome this commitment and have directed our Ambassador to work with the Ugandan authorities in bringing matters forward. The suspension of funding channelled through the Government of Uganda remains in place.
A team from the Evaluation and Audit Unit of my Department also travelled to Uganda last week to investigate the findings of the Auditor General and they will be reporting shortly.
Ireland’s aid programme is strongly focused on the poorest people and communities in sub-Saharan Africa. The Government will not provide financial support under our development cooperation programme unless it is clear that Irish money is being spent for the purpose for which it was allocated. Irish funding is not given to the Ugandan Government to spend as they see fit, but rather it is for programmes in particular in the social, health and education sectors that are prescribed and agreed with Irish Aid. Funding sector programmes through Government systems is an important tool in achieving strong development outcomes and empowering national Governments to deliver and take ownership of the provision of services and is essential if the improvements put in place are to be sustainable in the long term.
In the case of Uganda, the independence and strength of the Auditor General is a clear sign of Ugandan Government accountability systems working well and the importance of assisting in this work. Ireland has been providing technical and financial assistance to his office for a number of years to build the skills and capacity required for the conduct of complex investigations such as this. While the findings of the Auditor General in this case are deeply disturbing, the fact that the Auditor General is now in a position to make them is a demonstration of the increased capacity and determination of elements within the Ugandan administration to enforce accountability for the use of Government and donor money. It is only by building national accountable systems such as this that corruption can be eliminated and I believe that if eventually we are in a position to resume development assistance to Uganda, we must continue to work with and assist the Auditor General.
Our aid programme in Ugandan is regularly examined and evaluated in order to ensure we achieve effectiveness and value for money. This is done through: auditors based in our Embassy in Kampala; the evaluation and audit team at headquarters; international accountancy firms whom we commission to carry out audits; the national audit offices of our partner Governments; and my Department’s Audit Committee which provides an independent appraisal of Irish Aid’s audit and evaluation and also meets with the Comptroller and Auditor General and publishes an annual report on its work. However, it is clear that notwithstanding all these ‘checks and balances’ that funding programmes through Governments can be very challenging as we can see in this particular case. I am committed to ensuring that we learn from this to strengthen our systems of monitoring and audit to seek to minimise the potential for the misuse of funds.
Ireland has had a bilateral aid programme with Uganda since 1994. The programme is strongly focussed on reducing poverty among some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people in the country. Our aid programme in Uganda is designed to: reduce the incidence of HIV and AIDS; to build schools and provide education for poor children; to reduce the incidence of Gender Based Violence; to improve democratic accountability including the promotion and protection of human rights; to help enhance the capacity of the private sector to provide jobs and economic opportunities for Ugandans and, in particular, to provide support for Karamoja, which is one of the poorest and most marginalised regions of the country.
Since commencing our work in Uganda, we have witnessed huge improvements in the quality of life for the Ugandan people. Peace has returned to most of the country after generations of war. There are now 8.3 million pupils in primary schools compared to 2.5 million in 1997. The HIV prevalence rate has been reduced dramatically from 18% in the 90s to just over 6% today. Most importantly, poverty has more than halved over the last two decades. These are real achievements, which have been made possible with the support of donors such as Ireland.
Currently 190 staff are assigned to the Development Cooperation Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade at Headquarters and Embassies and Missions overseas. There are four headquarters based officers in the Embassy in Kampala. In addition, the Embassy has a number of professional staff hired locally to provide technical input to specific programme and project areas, including a professional accountant, an internal auditor and several staff working specifically on monitoring and auditing of programmes.
The annual budget for the Irish Aid programme in Uganda over recent years was €32.75 million in 2011, €33 million in 2010, and €35.4 million in 2009. Additional support of over €7 million annually was provided by Irish Aid through NGOs, missionaries and other international partners for their work in Uganda.
I will continue to ensure that our funding is directed to those areas most in need, is used for the purposes intended and represents the best value for money. We are committed to delivering on our commitment that all aid funded by the taxpayer will benefit the poorest and most vulnerable in the countries where we are working.
