Vol. 415 No. 2
49 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reasons no provision has been made in the 1992 Estimate for payment to the World Food Programme in view of the fact that a payment of £3,182,000 was made in 1991; and whether he proposes to correct this omission in view of the 20 million people in Africa alone who are threatened with starvation at this time.
The allocation referred to by the Deputy was in respect of the food aid element of Ireland's bilateral contribution to the 1990-91 special aid package provided by the Community's member states to countries whose economies were adversely affected by the Gulf crisis; the aid was distributed through the World Food Programme. This transaction completes our commitment to that particular aid package which is of course separate from this country's ongoing expenditures under the Food Aid Convention and the programme of Official Development Assistance which benefits developing countries in Africa and elsewhere.
