Vol. 395 No. 3
83 Mr. Moynihan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the contacts at bilateral level which Ireland has had for each of the last three years with the SADCC countries; whether it is proposed to support these countries in their struggle against apartheid; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ireland has substantial contact with a number of SADCC countries. Three of the four priority countries for Irish bilateral aid are members of SADCC: Tanzania, Zambia and Lesotho. Projects assisted in each of these countries in 1987, 1988 and 1989 were in the areas of education, health, rural development and institutional support. In 1987 there were 34 Irish experts employed under the bilateral aid programme in Lesotho, 21 in Zambia and eight in Tanzania. These numbers remained the same for Zambia in 1988 and 1989. The number decreased to 31 in Lesotho in 1989 and increased to 15 in Tanzania in 1989.
The bilateral aid programme also provides assistance to Zimbabwe where projects in the agricultural and education areas were assisted in 1987, 1988 and 1989. Under Ireland's co-financing programme with non-governmental organisations small projects have been assisted in Tanzania, Zambia, Lesotho and Zimbabwe. In addition, the State-sponsored Agency for Personal Service Overseas (APSO) sent assignees to Tanzania, Zambia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Mosambique and Malawi.
The Minister of State visited Tanzania in 1988 and 1990 and Zambia in 1990 and there were numerous contacts at official level in connection with bilateral aid.
Through Ireland's participation in and contribution to the work of SADCC, we already support these countries in their struggle against apartheid, most notably in support of their efforts at a regional level to reduce their economic dependence on apartheid South Africa.
