Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 April 2017
168. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if consideration is being given to the establishment of a major civil society hub here for overseas development and the humanitarian assistance sector, in view of the fact many non-governmental organisations are based in London at present and EU funding is of critical importance in their work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19074/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government recognises the value of a strong, independent and inclusive civil society and has a long history, through Irish Aid, of supporting Irish civil society organisations in fighting poverty and hunger and responding to humanitarian crises. Irish Aid manages a range of civil society funding partnerships to implement these objectives.
When I addressed the World Humanitarian Summit last May, I highlighted our commitment to providing long term funding and increased coherence between humanitarian and development work and this has been reflected in the structure of some of the key multi-annual funding streams this year. This was the result of an extensive and rigorous process of cooperation with civil society partners, to ensure that the most effective possible development results and humanitarian interventions are achieved with Irish taxpayers’ support.
Irish Aid will continue to co-ordinate with other donors and with international and national civil society to support poverty reduction and humanitarian response efforts. We are also giving close consideration, along with our EU Member State partners, to the implications for the EU’s development work and development budgets of the UK’s planned departure from the European Union. In terms of non-governmental organisations based in London, and indeed NGOs generally, we recognise the importance of the autonomy of these organisations to determine their areas of focus and operational priorities. Decisions on the part of civil society organisations as to how and where they conduct their fundraising and grant-application operations are fundamentally a matter for those organisations. However, the establishment of a hub to facilitate applications for EU funding is not under consideration.
