Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 January 2013
43. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide a list of the countries to which Ireland provides financial assistance through its overseas development programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57832/12]
View answerIreland’s aid programme prioritises the fight against global poverty and hunger. The programme is central to our foreign policy, has an enviable international reputation and enjoys consistently high levels of public and political support.
For 2012 Ireland provided €639 million to Official Development Assistance (ODA). This funding was directed to development programmes and providing life saving emergency humanitarian assistance to many of the world’s least developed countries.
Ireland has long term, strategic development partnership programmes with a small number of developing countries, called Programme Countries. These are Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia in sub-Saharan Africa, and Timor Leste and Vietnam in Asia. Timor Leste has ceased to be a Programme Country in 2013. In these countries we aim to build government and institutional capacities to deliver the essential services that their populations need – mainly in the areas of health, education and food security.
For 2012 we allocated €158 million to our Programme Countries. Comprehensive details of how Ireland’s total ODA, including funding allocated directly to Programme Countries, was spent are currently being compiled and will be published in the Irish Aid Annual Report which will be available on the Irish Aid website www.irishaid.ie. Comprehensive details of all countries that benefited from Ireland’s aid programme in 2011 can be found in the 2011 Irish Aid Annual Report which is currently available on the website.
