Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 January 2022
76. Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress made on establishing a process to ensure that all Irish aid is spent in a way that is in full compliance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as committed to in the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3837/22]
View answerIn 2015, the member states of the United Nations committed to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 17 global goals designed "end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity" by 2030. Ireland, together with Kenya, acted as co-facilitators in achieving agreement on the SDGs, which apply to both developed and developing countries.
Ireland’s first SDG National Implementation Plan was published in 2018. The preparation of Ireland’s next National Implementation plan is underway, led by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.
Overall cross-Government efforts on achieving the SDGs in Ireland are coordinated through an inter-Departmental working group, in which my Department is an active participant. My Department also chairs a separate working group to coordinate efforts towards achieving the SDGs internationally, working with a range of Government Departments that spend Official Development Assistance. This is a useful forum for coordination of international efforts in key areas such as climate action, response to COVID-19, and Ireland’s leading role on sustainable food systems.
The SDGs firmly underpin the Government’s international development policy, A Better World, published in 2019. That policy “grounds our international development policy in terms of what Ireland can, and must do, to achieve the SDGs.” A Better World identifies key priority themes which are rooted in Ireland's development journey, represent our unique global contribution, and are closely aligned with several of the SDGs. These include, among others, addressing hunger, health outcomes, education for all, gender equality, peace and justice and climate action.
My Department has put in place key systems and processes to ensure Irish Official Development Assistance contributes to delivering on the ambition of the SDGs. These include mandatory reporting on SDG outcomes at appraisal stage of programme development, and routine tracking of expenditure against SDG outcomes. The Department is currently upgrading its electronic infrastructure for grant management which, when completed, will further improve our ability to monitor expenditure against SDG targets in real time.
Ireland's Global Citizenship Education Strategy, which I launched last year, has an emphasis on the SDGs at its core. Funding towards development research, such as the SDG Challenge Fund in partnership with Science Foundation Ireland, is focused on research solutions to intractable SDG challenges. And strong Irish leadership within the OECD Development Assistance Committee on civil society space is based on the unique contribution civil society will play in the achievement of the SDGs, across all targets.
The Irish Aid Annual Report details the breadth of Ireland’s Official Development Assistance, presenting details of the impacts of Irish Aid’s investments in the prior year. It details activities of other Government Departments which are supporting international development work. The most recent report, for 2020, is available on my Department’s website.
Ireland is also an active member of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee. Each year, we report on Ireland’s ODA expenditure to this committee in accordance with common ODA standards. We also actively participate in decisions about what these standards should be. Periodically, our development programme is reviewed by DAC peers. The most recent such review, in 2020, found that Ireland is a strong development partner that 'walks the talk' on its poverty focus and on its commitment to least developed countries.
