asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has any plans to increase the overseas development assistance budget in the light of the public response to the Sport Aid event.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Overseas Development Assistance.
26.
Official development assistance to developing countries is being increased significantly this year and there are plans for another substantial increase in 1987.
The provision in the 1986 Estimates reflects the Government's continuing commitment as set out in the national plan Building on Reality to expand Ireland's assistance to the developing countries of the Third World. In accordance with Building on Reality the allocation for Irish ODA is £43,961,000 in 1986 compared with a provision of £38,357,000 in 1985. There is, therefore, an increase in 1986 of 15 per cent over the 1985 figure. It is planned that expenditure will rise to approximately £50 million in 1987. Ireland's ODA will have grown from £34 million to £50 million or 47 per cent during the period of the national plan.
I am delighted with the very successful Band Aid, Live Aid and Sport Aid ventures to raise both money and awareness of the plight of some of the poorest and least developed countries of the world. We are all proud of the generous response of the Irish people.
In so far as the official development assistance programme is concerned the Government are satisfied that the policy of steady significant growth which it is following under the national plan is the correct one.
In the light of public attitudes will the Minister now reconsider the reduced spending on overseas development aid in Building on Reality and reinstate the objective of increasing it by 0.05 per cent of GNP each year as contained in the Joint Programme for Government?
I do not know what the Deputy means when he refers to reductions. The reality is that there has been sustained growth in each year the Coalition have been in office. In that regard we share in a long tradition because since the ODA package was launched in the mid-seventies by Deputy Dr. FitzGerald, when he was Foreign Minister, there has been a pattern of steady growth each year. Indeed, without wanting to introduce any element of politics into this, I must state that there has been only one year when we failed to achieve that — in 1979 when Deputy Collins was Minister for Foreign Affairs.
The Minister of State got that off his chicken little chest at last.