Vol. 521 No. 4
127 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Finance if he will ensure that there is a proposal put forward at the G8 summit meeting in Japan for further debt cancellation for Third World countries who are unable to pay their debt; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17361/00]
As the Deputy may already be aware, Ireland is not a creditor of any of the world's poorest countries, nor a member of the G8. It is, therefore, as a member of the multilateral lending organisations, in particular the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, that we can best exercise our influence to alleviate the debt burden of these countries.
Ireland has made a significant contribution to the review of the World Bank or IMF debt relief package for the world's most heavily indebted poor countries. Under the enhanced HIPC initiative, the amount of debt relief on offer has been doubled and a wider range of countries is to get faster and deeper relief. My concern now is that these improvements are fully financed.
The Deputy will recall that Ireland is contributing fully to the enhanced initiative. We are also participating in the alleviation of bilateral debt relief in relation to some of our priority aid countries even though our own bilateral assistance has been in the form of grants. Ireland contributed £12.1 million in 1999 to the debt relief package and is committed to payment of a further £2.9 million by 2008.
A more comprehensive account of Ireland's participation in the HIPC initiative is set out in my reply to PQ 15237/00.
