I propose to answer Questions Nos. 10, 20, 27, 34, 35, 50 and 51 together.
The provision for Official Development Assistance, ODA, in the 1991 budget was £43.7 million or 0.18 per cent of GNP, an increase of over £9 million over 1990.
Since the adoption of the budget, further measures have been undertaken which will increase the total by over £2 million more. These are the additions to bilateral and multilateral contributions in respect of European Community programmes for relief of the emergency situations in Africa and in Bangladesh and the humanitarian needs of the Kurdish population of Iraq. Total ODA for 1991 is now expected to rise to close to £46 million. This represents 0.19 per cent of GNP and over one third more in cash terms than the 1990 level of ODA.
The increase in the level of funding is a clear indication of the Government's strong commitment to developing countries. Total expenditure for the first half of 1991 is estimated at £23.4 million. This has been spent mainly on projects in our priority and partner countries, on volunteers sponsored by the Agency for Personal Service Overseas, on disaster relief grants to Irish and international relief agencies and on contributions to the European Community, the World Bank and other international agencies involved in development and relief work.
As has been explained repeatedly in this House and elsewhere, the Government remain committed to achieving the UN target of 0.7 per cent of GNP for Official Development Assistance and will make progress towards it as economic and financial circumstances permit. However, it is not realistic given our current situation to expect that it can be reached quickly. I welcome the views and advice of all parties in this House on development assistance matters but would have to note that, to date, proposals I have received for progressing towards the target of 0.7 per cent or intermediate targets have been made without regard to the difficult budgetary and economic situation the Government face.
There is no formal reporting structure at the United Nations on aid provisions, but we have reported in detail to the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD and have given full explanations of our allocations each year.