I welcome the opportunity to speak on this small but important Bill. I contrast the lack of enthusiasm of the House in dealing with this Bill with the matter we just discussed. While I support the emergency legislation introduced in the past week, it can be introduced in a matter of hours. However, Second Stage of the International Development Association (Amendment) Bill commenced on 11 December 2003 and is still on Second Stage. It begs the question as to how committed we are to those in more difficult circumstances than us.
We welcome the headlines in today's newspapers stating that tax revenues have increased again. This must be balanced by the Government's refusal to spend on the needy in this country despite the improvement in our finances. The Minister's opening speech on the Bill was made shortly after the budget, which gave a clear indication of a slowdown in support for development needs. I support this worthwhile Bill. However, it represents only part of the overall programme of development aid in which we are involved.
The Government set itself a target for development aid of 0.7% of gross national product by 2007. While progress was made between 2000 and 2003, it has been arrested this year. It is a sad reflection that as soon as there seemed to be some tightness in the country's finances, the first people on whom we put the screws were those in most need. This happened not only at international level but also in social welfare where 16 cuts were made including cuts affecting widows.
If the Government's target for 2007 is to be taken seriously we are now well past the half-time mark. However, only a quarter of the improvement needed to achieve the target has been realised and three quarters of the improvement remains to be achieved. I am concerned that because of tightness and cutbacks, no improvement will be made this year. If the Government is serious about its commitment, it must make a firm statement on how it plans to achieve its target by 2007.
Some agencies in the field are concerned that the move in 2004 to stop the slow progress in its tracks will have implications for the different bodies concerned. It would be encouraging to hear that the Government was committed and would give a firm indication as to how it will meet its targets. There is a clear case for making this contribution and achieving the targets set out by the Taoiseach. It is important that Ireland not only reiterates its commitment but puts in place a strategic plan to fulfil it. Ireland must seek to use its considerable international influence in this regard. The year in which the Taoiseach is President of the European Union is the year in which we should lead the way in this area. It is striking how, internationally, vast sums could be found suddenly for the Iraqi war and all that it entailed. On the whim of a couple of people which we now know was not based on fact, lives and billions have been lost. Nevertheless, we curtail the money for development.
The Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, and I have both been involved in farm organisations and we know how tight circumstances are. We should look back at the great farming leader, the late Mr. T. J. Maher, who was president of the NFA and, subsequently, the IFA. He recognised that we should contribute to the least well-off and he put in place structures to bring Friesian heifers out to countries in need. The aim was to give them long-term wherewithal rather than a few bob for the day. Other people organised systems of bored wells. These actions were in keeping with the old saying that if one gives a man a fish, he will live for a day, but if one gives him a fishing line he will live forever. Deputy Parlon and I are now Members of this House and we should be in a position to ensure that a real commitment is made. It is not enough to initiate small projects, though these may be very worthwhile. We should lead from the front.
Whenever a call is made for voluntary contributions for disabled persons or to alleviate hunger, the Irish people have always shown through street collections or direct contributions that they are prepared to give. Therefore, we should not be afraid to fulfil the Taoiseach's commitment every year rather than introduce cutbacks. The Bill is short and its purpose is to enable Government to contribute to the International Development Association which is a World Bank structure. It is important that the Government ensures that we not contribute only through banking structures which entail demands on poorer countries. While the bank will provide interest free loans over long periods, as a well-off State we should ensure that countries in which less than 5% of GDP is being spent on social provision do not neglect such provision by being forced to repay bank loans.
It is very important that we contribute money on a reasonable and understanding basis. The explanatory memorandum indicates that the International Development Association fund will help the world's poorest countries to reduce poverty by providing credits which are loaned at zero interest. There will be a ten-year grace period and a loan's maturity will be 35 to 40 years. That looks fine on paper and it is something I support. However, it is important to ensure that where a country experiences a hiccough ten years down the road, the needs of the poor are addressed before loan repayments.
The mission of the fund is to support efficient and effective programmes to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life in the development association's poorest member countries. This is extremely welcome. We must lead the way. One cannot help but think back to all of those who had to leave this country. I was in Canada recently where I was reminded of the boatload of 350 people who left my immediate area in Cahans near Ballybay. They left 80 years before the famine due to the difficulties Ireland experienced at the time. No one needs to remind Irish people what the black year of 1847 meant. The soup kitchens remain to remind us of the dire poverty. We experienced the exodus of hundreds of thousands in the last century prior to our entry into the EEC to Canada, Australia, America and our nearest neighbour England. The proof is in the vast numbers who set up their homes abroad because we could not afford to keep them here. As late as the 1980s, 40,000 had to leave one year. I remember the late Brian Lenihan relating the statistic as more or less a good thing given that these people were able to find jobs elsewhere.
Thank God, that has changed. Now that we claim to be leaders in modern prosperity, we must lead the way in our overall strategy on world development rather than simply through the small token of this Bill. I urge a re-examination of our development strategy. We must give firm commitments to provide funds to allow planned initiatives to go ahead. There is no point in planning an initiative for 2007 on the basis of funds which may not be available to be spent. Organisations can only plan for the future if they know what funds they will receive in 2005 and beyond. Any programme of world aid in which we are involved will only be worthwhile if we commit to funding it.
We are not short of funds. As I outlined earlier, we have approximately €1 billion more in Exchequer receipts than we anticipated due to increased taxes and under spending. We do not only have problems in the Third World, we continue to have them here. The mother of a 29 year old with special needs spoke to me yesterday. He lives with her without access to any support when he needs to be given a training place or something of that nature. It is extremely difficult to speak to such a person or to hear a daughter crying on the phone because she cannot get her aged mother with mental health difficulties into full-time care. While we must lead the way and deal with those issues at home, we must also deal with problems abroad.
Some €15 million was spent on Punchestown. The sum of €52 million was spent without any discussion in the House on an e-voting system. One need only consider this morning's air traffic control problems in the UK to realise that no electronic system is fool proof. We need back-up structures. While I do not wish to reopen the argument on this issue, I note the waste of money. A further €250 million went on "the Bertie bowl". The country is not experiencing a scarcity of funds. There is plenty of money available. Not only should we enact the legislation necessary to allow the investment of €50 million in the International Development Association, we should reconsider the manner in which we support Third World activities in the long term.
There are tremendous organisations desperately trying to help. I am involved with Christian Aid and I recognise the contributions of GOAL and many other bodies. They have a role to play and they need to be assured that the finance will be available to help them fulfil it. Some of the larger countries have pulled back. This year above all, when we have an opportunity during our last few days holding the EU Presidency, I ask the Minister of State to implore the Taoiseach to ensure that proper long-term commitments from Ireland and, through him, from Europe are made for this needy area.
Many people are concerned at the focus of the initiative for highly-indebted countries. There is a fear that while welcome, this initiative has focused too much on bankers' interests and their approach to debt problems and has not concentrated sufficiently on the needs of the countries involved. It is important that the initiative is not taken in the name of bankers but in the name of Christian charity. It is wrong that a country trying to repay a debt should be able to spend only 5% of its GDP on social programmes. We need to ensure that a coherent programme is in place.
We welcome this Bill. It is important that Ireland should continue to support the International Development Agency, a significant player in many of the most worthwhile programmes in the world. It is a useful influence in the development of policy. I hope that Ireland will use its voice in the agency to promote a more positive development approach in the area of need.
I support the Bill. The Minister of State and his party have a role to play to ensure that the Taoiseach and especially the Minister for Finance, who has never had so much money available to him, make a real commitment. This Bill had its first reading in this House on 11 December. If the Government is serious about supporting those worse off than ourselves it will ensure that the Bill is passed before the summer recess. Otherwise it will seem like a joke.