I propose to take Questions Nos. 276 and 277 together.
The Ireland-United States Commission for Educational Exchange, more commonly known as the Fulbright Commission for Ireland, was established by the Educational Exchange (Ireland and the United States of America) Act, 1991. The Commission facilitates a programme of educational exchange between Ireland and the United States of America. The Commission remains operational. The Commission comprises eight members, four of whom are appointed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and four of whom are appointed by the Ambassador of the United States to Ireland.
Over the last 50 years some 700 Irish students and scholars have enjoyed and benefited from educational opportunities in the United States, under the aegis of the Commission and its predecessor the Scholarship Exchange Board.
The establishment of a Hunger Task Force was one of the recommendations of the White Paper on Irish Aid published in September 2006. The aim of the Hunger Task Force is to identify the additional, appropriate and effective contributions that Ireland can make to international efforts to reduce hunger. Members of the Hunger Task Force include a number of renowned national and international experts in the field of food security and development.
The first meeting of the Hunger Task Force took place in Dublin on 14th September 2007 and the second in University College Cork on the 16th of November 2007. Two further meetings are planned for the first half of next year and the report of the Hunger Task Force is due around the middle of 2008.
The report will outline a number of key actions which Ireland can take to give practical leadership internationally on the attainment of the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of those who suffer from hunger by 2015. It is expected that the report will also result in Ireland taking a more effective and focused approach to tackling hunger.
The National Committee for Development Education (NCDE) was established in 1994. Its aim was to promote development education through cooperation with groups, schools, and other relevant institutions in Ireland. Other functions included the administration of Department of Foreign Affairs grants for development education, monitoring the impact of this support and fostering good practice.
The NCDE was instrumental in promoting development education in the formal and non- formal education sectors. The significant work carried out by the Committee in each of the areas of its mandate was noted in the 2002 Ireland Aid Review. In December 2002 the NCDE ceased operation and its functions were assumed by the Department of Foreign Affairs. A Development Education Advisory Committee was established in 2003 to advise the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Irish Aid on development education and on ways of increasing knowledge and understanding of development issues. The term of the Committee was renewed for a further two years in October this year.