asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the organisations which will benefit from the Government's allocation for development aid for the Third World in 1975; and the amounts allocated in each case.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Third World Development Aid.
41.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle I propose to furnish in the Official Report a tabular statement giving the breakdown, in so far as it is possible, of allocations under the following headings: Votes of the Department of Foreign Affairs and other Government Departments and Central Exchequer Funds.
The Deputy will appreciate that at this early stage in the financial year it is not possible to give a breakdown of the sum of £250,000 allocated to bilateral aid, as a number of projects are still under consideration.
It is planned to use the funds for the training of personnel from developing countries and for the execution of projects which will be the subject of agreements with developing countries of Africa and Asia. The organisations which, it is expected, will conduct the training courses funded by Government are:
The International Trade Centre, Geneva. The Institute of Public Administration. The Shannon Free Airport Development Company and, to a lesser extent, other State-sponsored organisations.
Organisations which may provide technical assistance in the execution of projects in developing countries are the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, and An Foras Talúntais. As programmes and projects develop, other organisations will be involved as appropriate.
In the case of contributions to international organisations many of the figures are estimates based on overall contributions to the organisations in question. Development aid contributions are calculated using the extension of the development assistance content of the organisations' work as reported by the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD. Thus the development aid content of normal contributions to international organisations cannot be calculated until both the contributions are paid and the Statistical Reporting Directive for 1975 of the Development Assistance Committee is published.
The figures given for our share of EEC aid represent the best estimate based on the latest information available.
The organisations through which funds are channeled should not be regarded as benefiting from such funds but rather as agencies through which funds are applied to development.
Following is the statement:—
IRELAND'S Development Assistance estimated expenditure in 1975.
|
Department of Foreign Affairs |
|
|
Contribution to United Nations Voluntary Agencies |
£380,000 |
|
Contribution to the Agency for Personal Services Overseas (Grant in Aid) |
£100,000 |
|
Disaster Relief in Developing Countries |
£150,000 |
|
Bilateral and Other Aid Contributions for Developing Countries |
£250,000 |
|
Department of Agriculture |
|
|
World Food Programme |
£350,000 |
|
Food Aid Convention |
£300,000 |
|
Gorta |
£15,000 |
|
FAO Associate Expert Scheme |
£30,000 |
|
Department of Labour |
|
|
International Labour Organisation |
£13,700 |
|
Department of Education |
|
|
UNESCO |
£5,100 |
|
Department of Transport and Power |
|
|
World Meteorological Organisation |
£5,300 |
|
International Atomic Energy Agency |
£2,400 |
|
Department of Defence |
|
|
Red Cross Emergency Relief Fund |
£6,000 |
|
Department of Health |
|
|
World Health Organisation |
£29,000 |
|
Central Exchequer Funds |
|
|
International Development Agency |
£500,000 |
|
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development |
£300,000 |
|
EEC Aid |
£1,000,000 |
|
TOTAL AID |
£3,436,500 |
Could I ask the Minister—in referring to the actual Votes for the Department of Foreign Affairs—if he will accept, and I presume he will, that the amount actually allocated in the Estimates for this year total broadly £880,000. I include in that contributions to the United Nations voluntary agencies, contributions to agencies for personnel services overseas, disaster relief in developing countries and bilateral and other aid contributions for developing countries. Might I ask the Minister if, in the light of the fact that for nine months last year the figure for the equivalent assistance was £705,000, he will recognise that the Government, in effect, this year are providing less, even in pounds—having no regard to the fall in the value of money—for these broad heads of development assistance to the Third World than they provided last year? Does the Minister accept that?
I certainly accept that the effort involved is considerably less than I believe both sides of this House would like to see. I think the House does appreciate the difficulties in which the Government, any Government, finds themselves at present in relation to contributing to anything. The rise in contribution is not as much as we would have hoped. I believe this country's contribution does not compare unfavourably with those of other nations, many of them more developed and much richer. I am afraid that reflects discredit on those countries more than much credit on us. I take the point the Deputy has made. I am in sympathy with it and we hope that, with the support of the House, the Government will be able to make a more significant effort in this field in the future.
The Minister has referred to the fact that the rise in contributions is not as much as the Government would have wished. I thought I had indicated from the figures that, if the Vote last year were for 12 months, in effect there would be a fall in contributions, without taking inflation into account. If one were to take account of inflation we are actually running at 20 per cent less for these 12 months than we would have done last year. Do we take it from that that the Government— through the Minister for Foreign Affairs, who expressed in opening his Estimates speech here the Government's commitment to improving and extending the service—have now revised their policy in that direction, because these figures seem to indicate very clearly that they have done?
The Deputy may not take that. I think the figures indicate the financial stringency of which the House and the country are well aware and the limits on action imposed by these for the time being. I would certainly hope to be able to increase this effort significantly. As I said, I am glad that the Deputy has pressed me and the Government on this. I hope—indeed, I believe—that the Opposition will support any useful increase in this respect.
Might I confirm for the Minister that that will be so, that we will support them? In fact from the very start we indicated to the Minister that he had our support in this direction. What concerns me now—and I have to say this reluctantly—is that a Minister, who, I think, fairly loudly proclaimed a change of direction and a sense of concern in this new Government which, as he put it, was not evident in the former Government, can now apparently forget his commitment to the developing world despite the support that we have indicated will be forthcoming and present an Estimate which in effect is less than that of last year.
I take the Deputy's point. Neither the Minister nor the Government is satisfied with this situation.
Nor are the people concerned about the developing countries.