John Perry
Ceist:242 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Finance if he will make a statement on correspondence from a person (details supplied) regarding debt cancellation for poorer nations. [20140/01]
Written Answers. - Debt Relief.
A reply has been issued to the person named by the Deputy. The position on the matter is as follows and this is what has been conveyed to the correspondent.
The issue of debt relief is vitally important in the fight against global poverty but it also needs to be looked at in the context of the broader international development effort. Mere transfer of resources from other aid programmes, bilateral or multilateral, to fund debt relief would have little, if any, net positive effect on poverty reduction. The challenge now is to mobilise resources globally to meet the UN target of 0.7% of GNP for overseas development aid. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that Ireland is on course to meet this target by 2007 and also the interim target of 0.45% of GNP by 2002, as outlined in the programme for Government.
On debt relief, I strongly support the aim of the heavily indebted poor countries debt relief initiative to remove some of the world's poorest countries from the burden of unsustainable debt. There are now indications that the HIPC initiative, in its current form, may not provide many of the 22 eligible countries with a permanent exit from unsustainable debt. In this regard Ireland has consistently supported calls for further enhancement of HIPC if the initiative fails to meet its stated aim, even if this were to mean additional funding on the part of donor countries. The IMF and World Bank have also indicated a willingness to re-examine cases where even after the application of HIPC debt relief serious questions remain concerning debt sustainability.
The Deputy will be aware that the Taoiseach recently pledged US$30 million per year to support the fight against HIV-AIDS. In his address to the UN General Assembly, the Taoiseach identified debt relief as one of the areas through which resources could be channelled and also signalled Ireland's willingness to participate. He stated:
If another enhancement of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative is required, Ireland will not object. If this means that countries with high prevalence rates of HIV-AIDS should receive debt cancellation, Ireland will agree.
I wish to leave the Deputy in no doubt that I wholeheartedly support efforts to combat global poverty and will continue to press for implementation of a HIPC initiative that delivers on its aim of exit from unsustainable debt, even if that means outright cancellation, or full debt relief, in some cases.