asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will give an assurance that the non-obligatory element of Ireland's official assistance to developing countries will not be discontinued by his Department.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Official Development Assistance.
10.
Government policy remains one of commitment to the maintenance and expansion of Official Development Assistance (ODA) as soon as economic circumstances permit. I assure the Deputy that the non-obligatory element of Ireland's ODA will not be discontinued by my Department.
Will the Minister agree that in view of the massive cuts of £11 million in this year's Estimates, which in real terms amount to a 40 per cent cut in our discretionary contribution, there is widespread disillusionment and despair felt among all the Irish groups working for world development who believe that if a similar cut is effected next year the future of the whole bilateral aid programme will be jeopardised?
I will reassure the Deputy that as far as my Department and Government are concerned, there will be no discontinuance of the non-obligatory element of Official Development Assistance.
How can the Minister of State make such a statement in view of the closure of the embassy in Nairobi, the dismantling of the aid development office in Sudan and the enormous cuts referred to by Deputy Griffin? My question is very simple: how does he propose to respond to the non-governmental organisations' submission to him that any continuing cuts in the programme will endanger the very structure of the bilateral aid programme?
First, the closure of the embassy in Nairobi has nothing to do with Official Development Assistance; that is a departmental problem. I reiterate for the Deputy again, the commitment of the Government to the maintenance and augmentation of Official Development Assistance as soon as economic circumstances permit. I might say to the Deputy also that he is well aware that had the circumstances that have prevailed in recent years been allowed to continue, with Government expenditure continuing at the same rate, then within a year or two there would have been no Official Development Assistance forthcoming at all.
I wish to ask a related supplementary. In relation to our bilateral aid programme, how can the Minister of State justify the fact that there has been a 1 per cent cut in the allocation in the Estimates of his Department and a cut of between 30 per cent and 40 per cent in the development aid programme in the Department's Estimates? Is this not an indication of the low priority both of our bilateral and multilateral programmes in the Department's Estimates?
No, I cannot agree at all. The Deputy complained about the closure of the embassy in Nairobi earlier. I might add that that was omitted from the Department's official Estimate. I can again reassure him of the Government's commitment to the Bilateral Aid Programme.
The Minister's assurance is not very reassuring in view of his previous statements when he indicated that there would not be any cut and if he is as true to his words on this occasion we can expect further cuts in the immediate future. Would the Minister not agree that the Government have reneged on their commitment to the Third World, that they have betrayed the poorest of the poor and those most vulnerable and, as a consequence, Ireland's credibility in international fora has been substantially reduced, if not totally eroded?
I do not agree with the Deputy. In relation to what may happen next year, that is a budgetary consideration and we will discuss it at that time. I have recently been in Tanzania and Lesotho and I can assure the Deputy that, contrary to what he says, Ireland's standing is as high as ever.
So was I and it is not as high as ever.
You met a different group from those I met.
I met the people the Department of Industry and Commerce are exporting soap to.
Question No. 11.
May I ask a final question?
A final question.
May I ask the Minister of State a very specific question: what submission have the development aid section of the Department of Foreign Affairs made to the Minister for Finance in relation to the forthcoming Estimates, the UN targets, the funding of the bilateral aid projects, the world disaster relief fund and the food programme? Have they made a submission?
No submissions have as yet been made in relation to the 1989 Estimates.