The Government is strongly committed to Ireland’s overseas aid programme and to its place at the heart of our foreign policy. My Department is committed to the provision of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the most effective way, providing humanitarian assistance and contributing to the fight to end global poverty and hunger, including through working with multilateral partners.
Funding to and through multilateral organisations is kept under regular review by the Department, to ensure that it is provided to partners which can contribute most effectively to delivering the priorities of our foreign policy and our development policy, as set out in the Global Island and in One World, One Future, and to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Ireland is currently a member of several Multilateral Development Banks, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Multilateral Development Banks are important contributors to economic and social development, and membership is valuable in building inter-regional relations and contributing to development results in the fight against global poverty and hunger.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) came into operation in January 2016 and aims to foster economic development and regional integration in Asia, primarily through investment in infrastructure. Ireland’s application for membership of the AIIB, which was primarily a matter for the Minister for Finance, was accepted on 23 March 2017, and is seen as a means of both strengthening our ties with the fast-growing Asia region and contributing to its sustainable development. We hope that Ireland will join the Bank in the near future subject to the passage of the necessary domestic legislation.
The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD is the body with responsibility for granting eligibility for Official Development Assistance (ODA) to countries and International Financial Institutions. While it remains to be formally decided whether the AIIB will be declared by the OECD as being eligible for ODA, indications are positive that the AIIB, or certain activities of the AIIB, will be deemed to be so. In December 2016, the DAC Secretariat recommended that the AIIB be included on its list. It is likely that a coefficient will be agreed, which will determine how much of the contributions to the AIIB will count toward ODA.
The President of the AIIB, Mr. Jin Liqun, visited Dublin in January 2017 to deliver a keynote address at the European Financial Forum. During his visit, President Jin met with then Taoiseach, Mr. Enda Kenny, T.D., then Minister for Finance, Mr. Michael Noonan, T.D and then Minister for State for the Diaspora and International Development, Mr. Joe McHugh, T.D. At these meetings, the role of the Bank, Ireland’s development programme and ways to identify areas for possible future cooperation were discussed.
