It has been agreed between the Whips that speeches will be confined to 15 minutes and it has also been agreed that, notwithstanding the fact that Deputy Gerard Collins spoke previously, he may speak again.
Developments in the European Communities — Twenty-First Report: Motion.
I move:
That Dáil Éireann takes note of the Report:
Developments in the European Communities—Twenty-First Report.
We have all become aware in recent days of the catastrophic dimensions of the famine affecting Ethiopia. I would like to inform the House of what has been done both nationally and through international initiatives to try to alleviate the situation and of what is planned for the immediate future. The Minister for Defence, speaking on my behalf on the Adjournment last night, outlined some of the actions the Government have been taking during the past few days. The Government have decided that an additional £250,000 is to be allocated to top up the Disaster Relief Fund, which had already been largely exhausted in responding to disaster appeals during the course of the year, particularly in respect of the victims of famine in Ethiopia and other parts of Africa. This would equate to the additional sums decided on by some other member countries of the Community. I need hardly say that this additional money is to be allocated to Ethiopia.
We are all shocked by the graphic television coverage of scenes of human suffering and starvation, particularly when it affects mothers and children. It is clear that the international community must respond to this tragedy, and quickly. The ability of Ireland acting alone to contribute to the alleviation of suffering in Ethiopia is obviously limited. For this reason the Government have been concerned not only to help to the extent possible from its own resources but also to encourage the mobilisation of international measures through the large scale multilateral agencies with which we are connected, and in particular those of the European Community.
The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Co-operation with Developing Countries drew attention to the drought situation at a special meeting in August and in particular requested that any Irish aid funds which might become available should be used. I can tell the House that this will be done to the extent possible between now and the end of the financial year.
The Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Jim O'Keeffe, raised the matter at the Council on 17 September and I understand that the Commission is at present looking at what further action can be taken in addition to the substantial actions already undertaken by the Community. The actions taken to date this year by the European Community have included the allocation of 19,000 tonnes of cereals as well as small amounts of other foodstuffs. It is anticipated moreover, that a further substantial allocation of food aid will be made in the near future. In addition, six million units of account of emergency financial assistance have been provided. This was used to improve the infrastructure for the internal transport and distribution of food aid and for medicines and other emergency supplies. Anybody who has seen the television programmes for the last few nights will appreciate the importance of allocating moneys for the improvement of the infrastructure.
From our own resources, the Government have to date this year contributed £60,000 for the relief of distress in Ethiopia. These funds have been allocated to the programme in Ethiopia by Irish non-Governmental organisations. The activities funded have included emergency feeding operations and the internal transport of food aid.
It is implicit in the raising of this matter in the House that there is widespread public concern that everything possible should be done in the tragic circumstances in Ethiopia and indeed elsewhere. This concern is fully shared by the Government. The potential for co-operative endeavour at the European level and between Government and non-governmental organisation at the national level is an important factor in fashioning an effective Irish and European response. Circumstances in Ethiopia are grave and I fear this will continue to be the case.
The following list, on the basis of the information at present available to me which may not be fully up-to-date, gives an idea of the range and scope of the activities of those NGOs
—Trocaire has so far in 1984 allocated £200,000 to relief operations in Ethiopia;
—CONCERN have some 20 volunteers in Ethiopia and have so far in 1984 allocated some £53,000 to its programme there;
—GORTA have so far in 1984 allocated some £28,000 to their programme in Ethiopia;
—GOAL allocated £5,000 for a shipment of medical supplies from Ireland to Ethiopia earlier this year.
The figures I have just given for the individual agencies include both money received from the joint disasters appeal for Africa and allocated to Ethiopia via the individual agencies and money contributed by the public directly to the individual agencies concerned. It should be kept in mind that there are also other, smaller agencies involved in allocating funds to Ethiopia.
I would also like to mention the campaign organised by the Irish Farmers Association to collect grain for Ethiopia. Cereals to a value of £50,000 have been contributed and I can inform the House that the Government will pay the cost of transport of this grain to Ethiopia from the funds transferred to disaster relief yesterday.
Other countries, of course, have been very generous also and the public response in Ireland is echoed in other member states of the Community. Very substantial allocations have been made from the bilateral aid programmes of these countries.
The question remains, however, could more be done by Europe, particularly against the background of the excellent grain harvest in Europe this year. It is important to point out that, contrary to public perception, I, as President of the Council of Ministers, cannot simply instruct the Commission to allocate additional quantities of food aid or emergency funding to Ethiopia. The heavy cost of funding such actions is, in the first instance, a matter for decision by the Council. Of course, I will be doing everything within my power to change attitudes and to mobilise further actions. I am, as President, proposing that the matter be further discussed at a meeting of the Council attended by Development Ministers on 6 November. I hope agreement can be reached on the allocation of a substantial additional quantity of emergency food aid for Ethiopia and other African countries affected by drought. I can say also that it is being discussed at this minute in COREPER in Brussels.
The immediate concern must be to try to save lives at risk within the coming weeks. Food appropriate for emergency feeding arrangements is, therefore, the immediate priority. A second priority is to overcome the problems of transportation which are gravely affecting the distribution of food already in Ethiopia. Of the £60,000 already allocated by the Government to NGOs, £40,000 was earmarked for logistical support to get supplies of food and clothing to the worst affected areas, the balance funded emergency feeding.
I have started consultations today with the voluntary agencies concerned to determine the most effective use of the new funds made available yesterday. As I mentioned earlier, the Irish Government's concern at the emerging crisis situation in Ethiopia was raised in the Council of Ministers on 17 September and the matter will be raised again at the Council attended by Development Ministers on 6 November. It is clear now that the scale of the problem is such that a major international aid effort will have to be mobilised. The Government will do what they can to promote that effort.
I should like to thank the Government Chief Whip for acceding to the request of the leader of my Party to have this debate and I should like to thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs for participating in the debate. I am aware that the programme in front of him today is a very heavy and important one. I believe that all Members, and the people we represent, share the great concern for what has arisen in Ethiopia. That problem did not arise today or yesterday but has been in that country for some time. The horror of it has been brought home to us all by the television pictures we have witnessed in the last three nights and could not have been better portrayed. It is not possible for any of us to describe to anybody else the horror of the problem. That shows the power of television. I am aware from people I have spoken to who would not bother to read the Official Report of the Dáil or Seanad or go beyond certain pages of the newspapers that the television pictures have hit them hard. They have forced us to a situation where we are now questioning whether we are doing enough. That question is very prevalent here, a country that has experienced famine and suffered from the effects of famine for many years. There is a genuine desire by everybody to do the maximum possible to help. I understand that at least 100 people die in Ethiopia every day and the health of many others is destroyed. There is no doubt that the life expectancy of people in Ethiopia is shortened as a result of what they must go through. There is an urgent need for immediate action.
I should like to thank the Minister and the Government for making an additional £250,000 to the Disaster Relief Fund. I am aware of how hard it is to get money in Government in good and bad times but, without trying to belittle what the Government have done, I should like to say to the Minister that if the Government wish to come to the House with a Supplementary Estimate for the Department of Foreign Affairs to provide additional funds they will get our wholehearted support. That offer is not being made to belittle what the Minister has announced today because I consider that effort to be most generous. We will go the whole road with the Minister if he wants further support from the Oireachtas.
The problem in Ethiopia is urgent. According to one television programme last night people are dying every 20 minutes. The Minister for Defence, Deputy Cooney, last night made it clear to the House that there are logistic problems with regard to supplies of food and medicine to those in most need. I appreciate that. As a lay person I have only a little idea of what is involved. A new approach will have to be adopted. Deputy Gay Mitchell last evening pointed out to us that we cannot afford to wait for ships to be chartered, loaded and got to ports. As he pointed out also there may be great difficulty in unloading that food and distributing it to the people in need. A super effort must be made to organise an air lift to that country. That is not much to ask when we can send men and women to the moon whenever we like. If we can send people to outer space to release satellites surely we can organise something through the great powers to get food immediately to the stricken people. One piece of film last night showed a small plane landing in an air field adjacent to a place where 100,000 people were on the verge of death due to starvation. Greater effort is needed. We are all aware that small quantities only can be transported on such craft but thousands of people are in need of aid. There is a need for a major effort to help those people.
I appreciate that as President of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the EEC the Minister for Foreign Affairs will do his best to try to create a greater awareness in the Community of the magnitude of the problem. I suggest to him that perhaps the next meeting, which has been arranged for 6 November, is too far away to deal with the matter. I urge the Minister to consider calling an emergency meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers. The Council have the muscle to make immediate decisions to deal with the matter. Emergency meetings of that Council have been called to deal with issues of less importance. I suggest that although we are a small nation we can play a major role in getting relief to Ethiopia particularly having regard to our Presidency of the Commission. A trip could be made to the other European capitals to get political goodwill on our side in our efforts to get something worthwhile done immediately. We could talk to countries that are richer than us and have facilities above and beyond what we have or can ever hope to have. Perhaps the Commission might consider a trip to the United States to convince the great American nation of the role they must play in Ethiopia. They should not, because of distance, feel they do not have a part to play. Those of us who have visited America will be aware that such disasters are not given the same prominence on American television as they are on our screens. European news is very scarce on American television.
We need the help of everybody, particularly the Americans, to get food, clothes and medicine to these people immediately. The Americans have the facilities to help deal with this problem. I should like to pay tribute to the voluntary organisations who are doing tremendous work in this country. I have read the comments of many of them in today's newspapers and their call for more money and supplies. We should thank God for them because they are doing great work. I hope they get the aid they need to help out.
It is difficult for lay people to understand that we as Europeans preside over a Community that has one million tonnes of butter in cold storage and that it costs in the region of £1 million to keep it in storage. We have a huge beef mountain in the Community also. Beef is being loaded on ships at present for storage in my constituency in the port of Foynes. That beef will be kept in cold storage until somebody wants it or until somebody is prepared to pay for it. We have a milk powder mountain and many other mountains but we have delayed until now doing anything about the problem in Ethiopia and each of us must share blame for that. We had to wait until our consciences were rocked. We are making a last minute desperate effort to do something worthwhile at this stage.
I appeal to the Minister for Defence to ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs whom I know is as genuinely concerned as any Member about the position in Ethiopia to make a move on this matter now rather than waiting until November 6. He might arrange with other members of the Government, or Members of the House, to communicate on his behalf with politicians in other European capitals to get more support and quicker results from the Commission, the Council of Foreign Ministers and those involved in the decision-making process in Brussels.
There is a big problem involved. Not alone must the supplies be obtained but they must be distributed also. I am not an expert in the area of transportation and I do not think any Member is. We are just ordinary people when it comes to things like that. However, we are all aware that a huge effort is required. What has been proposed is something to deal with the matter in the short term. As a Parliament we should have more regular debates on such matters. If that occurred more Members would become involved and there would be greater questioning of policies and programmes. Those debates should not be held for the purpose of saying that one Government did more than another. There is a heavy responsibility upon us in the West, where God was so generous in giving us plentiful supplies and where so much food is wasted daily. Food is wasted here day after day. Now we can do something in the long-term. We can encourage those who can do something about this. My message to the Government is to do more. We are not taking anything away from the generosity they showed today, but if they do more we will help them along the way.
It was appropriate that the Dáil was allowed to debate the horrific famine in that part of the world in conjunction with the 21st Report of the EC committee. The Whips are to be thanked for having granted Deputy David Andrews's request. If I were to contribute to this debate in the manner in which I would do in regard to the general report I would not have the sympathy of the House. Deputies want to express their concern and their hopelessness in the face of this great human catastrophe in Ethiopia.
However, I should like briefly to speak on the 21st Report, the heading under which this debate is being conducted. I welcome the chance to discuss it even in an abbreviated form. The report is a somewhat historic document, ending in 1982. On the last occasion we spoke on such a report Deputy Collins and I agreed that the Joint Committee virtually had been out of existence for two years and did very little work. During the past number of months that committee, under the chairmanship of Deputy Collins, have been extremely active. We have published a number of major reports, including community aid for fuel production, air pollution, environment policy agricultural structures, qualities of opportunity. There is a major report on the last mentioned, and in coming weeks we will be publishing another major report on the implications for Irish fisheries of the accession of Spain and Portugal. I should like to refer to one matter before I go on to Ethiopia, the enlargement of the Community to include Spain and Portugal, probably attainable before the end of our Presidency. The events over the past week, especially that of the Sonia, have exhibited dramatically for us one aspect of Spain's membership on our fisheries industry.
I should like to pay tribute to the work of the Irish Navy, small but very efficient, in protecting as well as they can our fishing resources. The events of last week, in gale force winds, exhibited the dangers to which our naval service can be subjected and the high degree of efficiency and bravery which is characteristic of that service. The problems we face in this matter are enormous. Spain has a big fishing fleet and it has shown very little regard for international agreements or for the rights of other countries. Our most dangerous problem would be not the type of agreement that would be reached but the enforcement of the agreement. We must be very clear on this when the Minister tries to wrap up the fisheries agreement. I suggest there is scope for greater Anglo-French-Irish co-operation because our interests are so close. Our fishing areas are at the mercy of the Spanish fleet. We need co-operation in the policing of the regulations. I do not think that the Spaniards are sufficiently aware of the high feeling in this country or the complete lack of trust we have in the intentions of their fishing fleet.
However, the House is concerned with more important issues. We have been given an opportunity to look at the position in Ethiopia. We are now aware of the position in the past number of years through reports coming back from Irish agencies and voluntary workers. However, as Deputy Collins and the Minister said, the full extent of what has been happening was only made evident to all of us when we saw the horrific TV pictures the other evening. It was an example of how TV can be so effective in bringing home to us our responsibilities in regard to what is happening even in a remote country. Like Deputy Collins, all of us share a sense of disbelief that when there are food mountains and wine lakes and beef and grain and butter surpluses hunger and famine co-exist side by side.
Last evening the Minister for Defence highlighted the very difficult problems in regard to getting relief to the areas involved. There are still possibilities, and we should ensure that these problems will not be insuperable.
All of us understand the reasons for the EC food mountains, but a time comes when humanitarian considerations must supersede all others. There are times when the laws of economics and of the EC must give way to ensuring the survival of good innocent people whose calamity is no fault of their own. It is the wish of every Member of the House to speak with one voice for the people of the country to do something urgent in the Community, to show that Europe's face is human and caring. We hope that if possible our Presidency can give a lead in this.
The Minister said he cannot just go in and make an order. He has consistently shown an interest in the problems of the Third World, and he will have the full support of this House and the country, even if it means turning the regulations upside down to ensure that something definite and substantial can be done quickly. The Committee on Development Aid, chaired by Deputy Owen, have been very effective during the years in educating Members of the House and of the public on the implications and the size of the problem. That committee will try to ensure that the problem is kept vividly before those who make decisions. I know other speakers wish to offer. I stress the sense of urgency felt not only by Members of the House but by the country.
Before I call Deputy Tunney I should like to remind the House that the following speakers have offered: Deputies Tunney, Owen, D. Andrews and Tomás Mac Giolla. I know there are other speakers who wish to offer. I appeal to all speakers to bear in mind the fact that there is one hour left.
Can the Chair inform the House if it is intended to finish the debate today?
There is nothing to say it has to finish today.
I hope I shall be able to give good example and not hog the time. I express the cold comfort which is ours that television and the media generally have shocked us into sobriety and reality. We are all unanimous in our views. I join with our spokesman for Foreign Affairs in thanking the Government, the Minister for Defence who spoke last night, indicating that assistance would be given and the Minister for Foreign Affairs who made the realistic announcement today that an additional £250,000 is being provided.
Our nation has suffered from hunger in the past and we would be critical of nations who stood by and let our people die. The least we can do as Christians and people who have feelings for our fellow man is to intensify the efforts that have been made towards relieving the distress of the unfortunate people in Ethiopia.
The people combined and responded to a call in respect of the Colin McStay case where the need was to provide scarce scientific assistance so that the life of one little child could be saved. It is extraordinary that in a country where there is such sensitivity to the question of apartheid and where for weeks we expressed concern about the Criminal Justice Bill lest some freedom or right might be infringed, until the manifestations we have seen on television came before us we did not realise in full the nature of the tragedy that exists in Ethiopia. We were prepared to allow the non-government agencies such as Trócaire, individuals like John O'Shea and GOAL, to speak for the people in connection with that tragedy. However, it is never too late to do the correct thing, and in so far as the measures proposed and confirmed and elaborated on by the Minister for Foreign Affairs today are indicative of the great awareness we have, they are to be welcomed and the Government are to be congratulated. The point should be made that it would have been unfortunate if the opportunity had not been given this morning to our party leader to raise this matter, which we hope had some effect on the decision which was made.
As regards the situation in Europe and elsewhere and the vulgarity that exists in respect of the bountiful supplies of food that there are, unlike the case of Colin McStay where we were searching for that which was scarce, we do not have to make such a search in this case because we know that not only is food available but it is wasted and destroyed. There is an obligation on us to agree that it should be more appropriately located in another part of the earth. As Deputy Collins said, we have the technology to do that. We have the imagination and guidelines which would allow for the transportation of that food. There is an obligation on us — when I say "us" I refer to all those who are better off than the people in that unfortunate state — to organise ourselves so that food which is not required can be transported to a place where it can save countless lives. The challenge is no greater than that.
I am pleased as an Irishman about what the Government have done. I congratulate them, but while what they have done is magnanimous in its own way, it is not sufficient. We must continue in our efforts on behalf of the people and, more especially, continue to preach that gospel to other nations who may not have the same history of famine and death as we have or who may not have the same approach to Christianity as we have but who might have greater resources. We should serve to do for them what television and the media have done for us in shocking us into a realisation of the tragedy of the moment.
I join with previous speakers in thanking the Minister for announcing that another £250,000 is available. I should not bring a note of cynicism into the debate but, despite what Deputy Tunney says, if his party leader had taken a look at the opening speech made by the Minister in November 1983 on the 21st report it would have been blatantly clear that this subject is not out of order under this report. It highlights how little attention we pay to that element of EC policy which affects the Third World.
Hear, hear.
It is sad that it needs graphic and horrific television pictures to bring us to our senses and to bring those who are at the forefront of making policy to their senses.
I am sure Deputies did not need to see the terrible pictures on television. Every agency in the country can provide us with these pictures. My abiding feeling, now that we have an opportunity to talk about this, apart from sympathy, horror and shock, is anger. I feel anger that it takes such television pictures to bring us to our senses and see what is happening in the world. Whether we like it or not we are all partly to blame for that.
The thrust of my anger is towards the Ethiopian Government or Governments who are not facing the problems in their own countries. Let us analyse why the Ethiopian Government are to be blamed in this instance. For the last ten years they have been primarily involved in fighting a war. The plight of the people of Ethiopia has not been second on their list but probably number 102. They keep up the strength of the army. Before their eyes they have allowed their country to come to this. They are not totally to blame, because outside forces have also played a part, as have natural calamities.
If we are to have this debate we better not just have it on the surface or as a debate where we express our sympathy. I hope that after this debate we will not forget about what underlies the problem in Ethiopia. Let us recall that over the last number of years we have had Bangladesh, the boat people, Cambodia and the refugees in Latin America. We have seen these kind of pictures before on television and have had this kind of reaction. We will still have them. Next year we will probably be here discussing Mozambique, Chad or some other African country where the pictures are now coming from and are just as horrific. That is why I feel angry. Development education does not seem to be progressing to a point where our aid to the developing countries is in the form of emergency aid. Until such time as I can pick up a document such as this Trócaire programme for development and find that we are sending relief only for emergencies resulting from acts of nature over which man has no control, I will not believe that development education is penetrating through to those whose job it is to devise such policies. The famine in Ethiopia did not happen overnight. The problems relating to transporting food around the country did not happen overnight either. There have been no roads in many parts of Ethiopia for a long time. We cannot prevent a drought, but last year and the year before people who work in the fields in Ethiopia warned of the danger of famine but those warnings were not heeded in Europe or elsewhere. It was not until we saw on television in the past couple of nights a film of the suffering being endured in Ethiopia that any action was taken.
My anger focusses secondly on the EC structures, on the developed world, for their not being prepared to face some of the unpleasant decisions that might have to be taken. The Common Agricultural Policy helps the developed countries but does it help the developing countries? There is an urgent need for reviewing the kind of policies inherent in CAP, policies which are damaging Third World countries rather than helping them towards a sustainable long-term development. We may continue with the programme of food aid to Third World countries, but that is not the answer. If we continue to provide aid by way of cheap food the Governments of those countries will not be prepared to face up to adopting policies that will allow farmers in those countries to produce their own food. There will be no impetus for them to provide their own foodstuffs. Therefore, there is a much deeper reason for having this debate. I am glad to find so many people anxious to participate in the debate. I suspect that generally for these kinds of reports, the Whips have difficulty in finding Members who are willing to contribute. There is not sufficient interest in the policies of the EC as they affect both us and the wider world.
Thirdly, my anger is focussed on ourselves as Members of this House. For too long there have only been about four people here who have had the slightest interest in what happens in the Third World with the exception of those who react to some of these horrific emergencies. The world is no longer a big place in terms of communication and of travel. Those Third World countries can be reached in a matter of hours by air. The policies that we in Europe adopt and in turn the policies adopted by those other countries will affect us. That is why we had better start to take note of what is happening out there. Perhaps, too, my anger extends to the media also. In August this year I, as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Co-operation with Developing Countries, called a meeting during the Summer Recess specifically to raise the issue of what we were doing in Ireland to help alleviate the problems of the Ethiopian famine. There were one or two people from the media at that meeting, which subsequently warranted two or three lines in the papers. Perhaps if I had gone to the meeting with a malnourished and emaciated baby we would have got more publicity, but unfortunately it was not until pictures of the suffering people were shown on television that we woke up to the situation. There are people in this country who are well aware of what should have been done in regard to Ethiopia many months ago or even some years ago. I am concerned lest this whole matter be forgotten in a week or two when some other big story will be news. A headline in one of our newspapers in August read that seven million faced death in Ethiopian famine. At least we are reacting now to what we saw on television. After our August meeting which was attended by Members from all parties, we wrote to the relevant Ministers, to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and to his Minister of State as well as to the Minister for Finance and to the Minister for Agriculture who has taken a very strong line, since becoming President of the Council of Ministers of Agriculture, on the whole area of food aid. Our letter was to the effect that not in any circumstances should any money becoming available from the multilateral funding in Foreign Affairs go back into the coffers of ordinary Foreign Affairs funding. We had it on good authority that the multilateral payments were levelling off and that normally the case would be that any funding available under that heading would go into ordinary departmental funding. I am pleased to hear today that that request was taken note of.
We invited Mr. John O'Shea, who is Honorary Secretary of the Third World Relief Organisation, GOAL, to attend at our meeting. He had just returned from Ethiopia and I should like to read some of the report he presented to us. The submission is dated 17 August and I quote from it as follows:
Words of mine cannot accurately convey the staggering degree of human misery which I witnessed during a brief visit to the Wailita province of Ethiopia during the past seven days.
Having been in Kampuchea and Karamoja when famine stalked these lands, I was, I felt, prepared for the ordeal ahead. I was wrong. What unfolded before my disbelieving eyes was shocking in the extreme.
Children so ravaged by hunger and malnutrition that they looked more like ailing old people were everywhere; mothers too weak to attempt to feed their listless children at the feeding stations; hundreds of children being abandoned because their mothers no longer had the will to fight on.
On Monday I watched horrified as an aid worker pushed back into a child's body, her insides; worms were eating away at her tiny emaciated body. On another occasion I encountered a man who had lost three members of his family through hunger within a week.
Mr. O'Shea went on to talk about the reasons for the extreme famine in Ethiopia. However, such statements are not new. We have heard similar statements before. I plead with the House and with the people who represent us in Europe to try to get through to our fellow members in the EC that it needs a root and branch examination of the kind of policies that we adopt in Europe which will have a rub-on effect for Third World countries. I should like to see a wider and more relevant interest in the policies that we help to formulate in Europe. I know that the Minister for Foreign Affairs, as President of the EC Council, has stressed that he cannot personally ride over the other Ministers and demand changes. He is very conscious that it needs more than just a reaction when horrible calamaties hit parts of the world.
Despite what Deputy Owen said in her outstanding contribution, this debate does make the Dáil relevant. We have seen horrifying pictures over the last few evenings on television and, at the same time, the mechanism of the Dáil has worked in the right direction. In the ordinary way, the debate might have been put back for another week or two to accommodate our out-of-date rules. However, we are entitled to change the rules, and I should like to express my gratitude to the Ceann Comhairle's office for the opportunity of speaking in this debate, which makes this House and Deputies a little more relevant. Thank God for small mercies.
I will possibly be repeating what other Members said, but we have a very influential role to play at present because we have the Presidency of the European Community at our disposal and we are serving out the last number of months of our six months Presidency in the context of our rota of duties in that regard. There was a suggestion by a number of speakers especially by Deputy Gerry Collins as spokesman for Foreign Affairs in Opposition, that maybe — if I may use the crudity — the use of our Presidency should be availed of by canvassing the member countries as a matter of urgency before their next meeting, but perhaps that will be too late and there will be another couple of thousand people dead by then.
Many people were in touch with me about the horrific pictures which they saw on television over the last couple of nights. I was aware, of course, that in August there was a meeting of Deputy Owen's great committee and, subsequent to that, I was speaking to John O'Shea who has done such exceptional work in his small but very dedicated and idealistic organisation GOAL. I should like to pay tribute to him for the consistency of the publication of the horrors which are happening on a daily basis on the African continent. We are talking about Ethiopia specifically, but there are a number of other nations in Africa at serious risk from starvation brought about by drought, maladministration, ideologies and philosophies which may be foreign to us but are endemic on that continent. This debate is not about ideologies or philosophies but about sympathy, hope, concern and action. We are calling for urgent action today. In that regard, whilst the sum of money proposed by the Government, £250,000 mentioned by the Minister for Foreign Affairs is a sizeable sum, nevertheless it is not enough. That brings me to another suggestion by Deputy Collins when he said that a Supplementary Estimate should be introduced by the Minister for Foreign Affairs in this House next week to send a realistic sum of money for famine relief. The sum of £250,000 is a drop in the ocean, albeit a fairly large drop, in a vast ocean. This side of the House has undertaken to support any Supplementary Estimate introduced by the Minister.
We have poverty here undoubtedly but we do not have famine. We are talking about children dying in their mothers' arms and fathers praying over the remains of their wives and children. I am satisfied that the nation would support the Government in any Supplementary Estimate which they might introduce. I agree that it is taxpayers' money but I am sure that taxpayers would gladly pay it. We look forward to the Minister's response in that regard.
I was listening to a radio programme very early this morning and it was suggested that there are 30 million tonnes of grain stacked up in EC warehouses. We are told that, to date, 19,000 tonnes of cereal have been provided from the EC to Ethiopia. That is a joke — between now and Christmas these people are looking for 60,000 tonnes of grain per month to survive. The Minister for Foreign Affairs should examine the large tonnage of grain in stock. Trócaire have given a sum of £200,000, Concern have sent 21 volunteers and donated £53,000; Gorta have sent £28,000 and GOAL have sent £5,000. The Irish Farmers' Association have given £50,000 in cereals, the Government to pay transport costs. I congratulate all those agencies, which are non-governmental organisations. They are doing an excellent job, and it is a tribute to the people who organise them that their concern and response should be so immediate.
On Wednesday next I hope to put questions to the Taoiseach concerning our Presidency of the EC and to suggest that he should ask his EC partners to declare a European Ethiopian crusade. The Taoiseach should declare next Sunday week as Irish-Ethiopia Sunday. That would give the people an opportunity to show their solidarity with the starving people of Ethiopia. I am also appealing to the Government to mobilise the media, non-governmental organisations and churches and to invite other institutions, including our large banks, to contribute to this fund. I make a special appeal to the schools. When schoolchildren see their contemporaries dying in their mothers' arms, I am sure their idealism and dedication will be brought into play. These are areas that the Government might mobilise as a matter or urgency.
Media coverage over the last couple of days has been fantastic but horrific. If nothing else it has made this Chamber more relevant, and for that we should be grateful. Hope is one thing and action is another. It is action we seek as a matter of urgency.
This country is shocked by what it saw and I hope it remains shocked until the famine is over. We had our own famine over 100 years ago and we have a tremendous moral role to play in leading world opinion in relation to the on-going Ethiopian tragedy. Let us play that strong moral role. Let us be the leaders in this.
I am very glad this debate is being held because the Minister's reply to the debate yesterday was very disturbing. I know the Minister for Defence was acting on the information available to him at the time, but when he said that we had made substantial contributions and would be making further contributions without any specified amounts it was obvious that the contributions were quite small. We know now that until this morning our total contribution was £60,000. I am glad that the Minister for Foreign Affairs has succeeded in getting a further £250,000 for the disaster fund to help Ethiopia, but I must agree with Deputy Andrews that this is not sufficient. It is only a start, and it is a good thing that we are acting immediately. The Minister must see that this should not be the total contribution of the Irish Government. Various non-governmental organisations have contributed more than our Government. The total of Trócaire, Concern, Gorta, GOAL and the IFA is £336,000, while the Government contribution is £310,000. That is not good enough. The Irish people will not see it as a sufficient response to this enormous disaster by the Government who speak in their name.
Regarding the EC, the contribution of 19,000 tonnes of grain is miserable. I heard on the radio this morning that Oxfam, a non-governmental organisation, have contributed 15,000 tonnes of grain to Ethiopia, yet the total contribution of all the EC countries is only 19,000 tonnes. This is miserable, particularly in view of the enormous stockpiles of food. It is said that a further 25,000 tonnes of grain are to be forwarded during the rest of the year, but that amount is needed now. The total amount required immediately to save lives is 650,000 tonnes. We do not expect the EC countries to contribute all of this, but in view of their development, wealth and enormous trade they should certainly contribute more than one-twentieth. It must be much more.
The contribution of 1,800 tonnes of milk powder, 640 tonnes of butter oil and 500 tonnes of vegetable oil is just a drop in the ocean. It is regrettable that the Irish Government have not been able to contribute milk powder, butter and other dairy products as well as their contribution of £250,000. When one considers the enormous amount of dairy products in EC storage, 1,800 tonnes of milk powder is nothing. The Minister for Foreign Affairs should emphasise during the course of our Presidency of the EC that it is a disgrace that this should be the total EC contribution. I know individual EC countries have also made contributions, but our contribution is not sufficient and the Irish people will see that.
Regarding the general level of overseas development assistance, it is a stain on our country's reputation that in 12 of the past 14 years we have broken our pledge given in the early seventies that we would increase our spending by .05 per cent of GNP annually until the UN target figure of .7 per cent had been reached. We have not done that and we are still at a figure of .23 per cent. Even if we now began to keep our promise of an increase of .05 per cent per annum it would be into the nineties before we would reach the target of .7 per cent. In view of the fact that we have consistently gone back on our word and not met our targets on overseas development assistance, we should make a much bigger contribution to Ethiopian relief.
We as a neutral nation which has experienced famine and colonialism should be calling for a reduction in the amount of money spent on arms and calling for this money to be used for the relief of disasters which are taking place all over Africa, particularly Southern Africa and in the sub-Sahara region where drought has continued for a decade. Irrespective of what Governments are there and whether there is internal or external strife it is the natural disaster of drought which has caused these famines. The response of the EC should be much stronger. Regarding the response of our Government, I would hope that the Ministers sees the contribution of £250,000 as just an initial response. The concern of all Deputies has been brought to bear on the Government to give the Minister this money, but we would hope that this is only the immediate response and that we will respond more positively during the next few weeks.
I raised this matter on the Adjournment last night and I am glad of the opportunity to debate the matter at greater length today. I welcome the all-party approach. We are united in our concern. Lest we are carried away by the problem of Ethiopia, let us remember that solving that problem will not solve the problem of hunger generally in the sub-continent. There are 24 countries involved.
The whole question of foreign aid generally comes into account. There are very serious questions of morality or immorality and downright sinfulness in the fact that there are food mountains in abundance in Western Europe while people are starving, including children with distended stomachs, only a flight away. It is not just a question of justice being done; it must be seen to be done. It is obvious that all that food cannot be brought there and that some of it would not be of use, but food like cereals would be of use. There is something terribly unjust about displaying this outrageous wealth of food while our neighbours are starving a short distance away. It is ironic that the hierarchies of the various churches concern themselves with such things as contraception when they are talking about morality. What about the morality of people starving? Why is there not a concerted effort to do something about it on a regular on-going basis? We should keep the whole question of world hunger prominently before the politicians and the media, who can help in ensuring that there is an awareness of the problem.
I welcome the increased aid. I am sorry it was not announced last night but I realise the Minister for Foreign Affairs was not in the House. The extra money is very welcome, but I join with other Deputies who have suggested that we should have a Supplementary Estimate to deal with this problem. We have been reneging on our responsibilities, and that is quite irrespective of which Government were in power. The Programme for Government commits us to a certain amount of expenditure that is not contained in the plan Building on Reality.
Currently we hold the Presidency of the Community. How can we ask our partners to contribute more when a country such as Holland is already contributing 1 per cent of GNP and are way ahead of us? We must hang our heads in shame. Those of us who want to see a world of free enterprise, of democracy and of liberal governments, must fight for that. Most of the countries that are affected by the kind of disaster that has occurred in Ethiopia either have Marxist Governments or have right-wing fascist Governments. If we want the world to be the kind of place we wish it to be we have to fight against the hunger, devastation and poverty that affects such countries.
Giving of the surplus we have is not the solution. We have to give enough to ensure these countries can create the infrastructure they need for trapping water, for storing grain and for distributing food. A sum of £250,000 will only help for one year and Ethiopia is only one country of 24. That gives some idea of the problem. There has to be some kind of structural response. We have to take action with regard to our own contribution and persuade our colleagues in the EC to allocate a fixed amount that is just and right. Instead of doing that we have been falling short.
I mean no disrespect to the committee dealing with overseas development, but I have argued in this House on many occasions for the establishment of a foreign affairs committee. This would have a higher profile and would have a keen interest in matters such as this, in nuclear disarmament and all the other issues that are of interest to the public. We have a role to play, and it is my opinion that the committee already established should be elevated or else a separate foreign affairs committee should be set up to allow urgent matters to be raised by the parliamentarians.
I should like to see our Government and the EC bring pressure at the United Nations and elsewhere to ensure that the Governments of the countries to which we have referred are pursuing economic and military policies consistent with the needs of their peoples. I need hardly add that the overriding concern of people in such areas is food. If we send money we know it will go on food, but that does not mean that a military government may not decide to retain a greater proportion of the national budget for military weapons and so on. I understand that in some countries for political purposes they pursue a cheap food policy with devastating results for the agricultural and rural communities. Some of the military and economic policies pursued by Governments of such countries need to be looked at. We should bring pressure on them in the United Nations to ensure that they are responding to the needs of their people.
One thing that has come through very clearly is that everyone here would be prepared to vote for a Supplementary Estimate. On behalf of the 120,000 taxpayers who sent me here, I am asking that a Supplementary Estimate be introduced next week to assist in this instance. We will then build that into our annual contribution to the Third World. I plead with the Minister to pursue that line.
Mr. Cowen
I should like to join with the other Deputies who have spoken of the enormity of the disaster we have seen on our television screens in the past few nights. It was one of shocking poverty and deprivation. I have been approached by many concerned constituents in the past few days, by people in the medical and nursing profession and by ordinary people in the street, and all of them have asked what this Parliament and Government intend doing about this dreadful disaster in Ethiopia. It is reassuring for a new Deputy to see that the Dáil has the ability to respond quickly to a major problem.
I welcome the allocation of £250,000. From the feedback I am getting I can assure the Government there will be no petty remarks made by the public with regard to the fact that money can be found in this instance, even though they have been lectured about belt-tightening and a shortage of money on the national scene. People are displaying a great compassion which is typical of our nation and they are quite prepared to give full support to the Government in making funds available for this major disaster. It has pricked our consciences and has woken us up to the fact that in spite of our difficulties we enjoy a standard of living that would be envied by the majority of people in the world. Some 60 per cent of the world's population live below the breadline, and the fact that we are in the other 40 per cent should make us feel grateful. We owe it not just to the Ethiopians themselves, but also to the dedicated crew of Irish workers who have voluntarily given part of their lives, and in some cases their lives, to try to ensure that people get a meagre amount of grain, or whatever, every day to keep them existing rather than living. The Irish Government should continue to respond and show our solidarity with our people who are working out there, the voluntary agencies, the religious, and so on. They should show that the Christianity which permeates our Constitution and which is part of the Irish ethos is recognised and expressed in immediate and urgent aid being sent to this stricken part of the world.
I support the comments made by Deputy Andrews. More can be sent and more should be sent. There will be no backlash from people outside this House about the amount of money sent if we can send any more. People realise the gravity of the situation. I know it is only a short-term measure. I agree with other speakers that we should consider how we can cope in the long-term and what role we can play. We should use our Presidency and the fact that we are a neutral nation not involved in world politics in Ethiopia or anywhere else to lead boldly in this field so that our Presidency can be a time when Ireland can be thanked by many of the civilised nations in the world for playing our role honourably and effectively in this matter.
I will not go over the ground covered by other Deputies. I support everything said commencing with the opening speech by the Minister and also what Deputy Collins said.
Deputy Collins focussed on the fact that because of our Presidency of the EC we have an opportunity to try to prevent a continuation of the misery, deprivation and sheer inequality in these countries. I hope we will not use stop gap methods and show a tremendous amount of compassion and sympathy, and once the regional problem is solved sink back again and forget the problem. This is an opportunity for us to make sure something is done in the long-term.
We all know that years ago the Brandt Report pointed out that unless we in the wealthy north compared with the deprived and disadvantaged south were willing to give more than our overflow the problem would not be solved. I agree that we are not even giving our overflow capacity. It is obscene when one thinks of it.
We will have to start talking seriously about more equal distribution so that we are not constantly giving the crumbs that fall from the rich man's table. The Treaty of Rome promised that the whole concept of the EC would be that the stronger, more developed and richer countries would discriminate positively in favour of regions within the Community. This was encapsulated in the Regional Fund. We must think of a much broader aspect of that and have, as it were, a world regional fund. The European Economic Community could broaden the ideals of the Treaty of Rome and provide a fund on a global basis. We have the right and responsibility to call on very rich nations like the United States to play their full part.
I do not want to enter into politics, but if the amount of money and machinery sent to deprived countries was matched by an effort to develop the people and their land, what a different world we would have. We have a moral opportunity to do that. We are all doing a bit of conscience searching. The Lomé Convention has not lived up to the objectives for which it was set up. That is a matter of sadness to people who have been involved in the Lomé Convention. We have been careful to make sure that it does not make tremendous demands on the developed world as against the developing world. We have been very careful to make sure that the trade agreements we have signed do not encumber us in the matter of raw materials within the technology of the different countries. We will have to start looking at this.
We have the research and development to enable us to do this. Up to recently we could put down a great deal of what happened to us to acts of God because we did not have the scientific knowledge to anticipate them. One of the advantages we have got from space travel and space experimentation is that we have satellites tracing world climatic changes. Vast sums of money were spent on enabling us to do that. We should now be anticipating changes of climate and buttressing up the people who will be suffering from those climatic changes. We have failed dismally to do that. This Ethiopian tragedy was anticipated months ahead.
Unless we take long-term measures we are only giving a bit of conscience money. That is not good enough. As the Brandt Report pointed out, we will suffer from it morally and we will suffer from it politically in the very near future. We must see how we can build up these nations technologically. This will take sacrifices. It will take political and structural changes. We should cut through some of the red tape enveloping the release of supplies which could be sent to Ethiopia as of now. We must take account of the incredible logistics of getting the food there. We have pledged our support and we may need to give more money, but for every £50,000 value in grain it takes the same amount to transport it.
Debate adjourned.