Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 March 2015
461. Deputy Billy Timmins asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding international negotiations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10480/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe purpose of the Third Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa in July is to agree the financing framework for the post-2015 agenda on sustainable development.
Ireland is currently co-facilitating the negotiations at the United Nations on the new framework for international development to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) after 2015. It is hoped that the new development agenda will be adopted at the Summit planned for New York in September. At the heart of this new global sustainable development framework will be a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which will complete the work of the MDGs in eradicating extreme poverty but which will put sustainable development at the core. The objective is that the SDGs will be universal in nature and address development challenges through social, environmental and economic actions in low, middle and high-income countries alike. They will address a wide range of areas including food and nutrition, water and sanitation, climate and biodiversity, production and consumption, trade and global governance structures, peace and governance, employment and economic growth, urbanisation and energy.
The Addis Conference therefore will seek to identify and unlock all the various financing sources, including, but not exclusively, aid, to implement the new SDGs. Its aim is to establish a durable and sustainable financial framework that will provide long-term support for the SDGs.
The Conference, will acknowledging the continuing importance of Official Development Aid (ODA) in contributing to sustainable development, and will aim for a more ambitious, broader and innovative approach to financing for development. It will examine the role of Middle Income Countries, and ways of mobilising domestic tax revenues, a rapidly-growing source of stable development finance. It will identify ways of creating an enabling environment to support private sector growth, both domestic and international, that is inclusive and sustainable. The potential for ODA to act as a catalytic agent for other innovative finance and investment will also be explored. Ultimately, this transformative agenda aims to form a global partnership to eradicate poverty and support sustainable development.
Ireland is actively engaged in these negotiations and is working closely at all levels with EU partners to agree a common EU position on the range of issues to be addressed at the Finance for Development Conference.
We believe the commitment to provide 0.7% of GNP for ODA remains extremely important. It is regarded as such by the developing countries which will participate in the Addis conference. Since coming to office in 2011, the Government’s aim has been to protect, as far as possible, allocations to for Ireland’s aid programme. Despite the very difficult economic circumstances we faced over this period, we have successfully managed to stabilise these allocations. For 2015, we have again protected the overall allocations to the aid programme, and have provided a total of just over €600 million for ODA. Significantly, this represents a small increase on the 2014 level. As our economic recovery consolidates and strengthens, I am determined to set out the strongest possible case for building further on our current commitment to the aid programme.
The OECD Development Assistance Committee’s peer review of Ireland, published last December, clearly recognises and commends our efforts to protect and stabilise the allocation for the aid programme, and describes as “exemplary” Ireland’s approach in managing the aid budget during the economic crisis. The most recent statistics published by the OECD, for 2013, place Ireland’s ODA at 0.46% of GNP. I believe this provides us with a strong and credible basis for the negotiations in Addis and on the post-2015 development framework.
