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Humanitarian Aid Provision

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 October 2018

Thursday, 4 October 2018

Ceisteanna (56)

Peter Burke

Ceist:

56. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the financial support given to the state of Palestine in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40522/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

For over two decades, successive Irish Governments have provided financial support to build the institutions of a Palestine State; to promote peace-building; and to meet the immediate needs of the Palestinian people.

Ireland provides development and humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of the most vulnerable Palestinian men, women and children, which will amount to almost €13 million in 2018. A key element of our programme is directed towards strengthening the ability of the Palestinian Authority to meet those needs. Enabling Palestinians to build institutions and provide essential public services is critical to laying the foundations for a future Palestinian State.

Ireland is one of five partners working directly with the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education and Higher Education to support them in delivering their Education Development Strategic Plan. Funding of €2.5 million will be provided this year to support the Ministry in providing better quality education services to more Palestinian children, which is crucial to Palestine’s long-term economic viability.

The provision of scholarship opportunities for Palestinian students to study in Ireland is also an important dimension of our engagement. In January this year, the Tánaiste announced an increase of €200,000 in scholarship funding for Palestinian students. This is a first step towards scaling up a scholarship programme for Palestinian students over the next five years.

Ireland also works to assist the Palestinian Authority in delivering essential public services in the West Bank and Gaza through a mechanism overseen by the European Commission, known as PEGASE. Our support, which will amount to €0.275 million in 2018, has been focused on the social development sector, enabling continued service delivery in the vital areas of health, education and social services. This support helps to strengthen the Authority’s ability to meet the needs of the most vulnerable Palestinian households.

Significant funding is also given to the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) so that they can continue to provide basic services such as food aid, education and health to some 5.3 million Palestine refugees. To date in 2018, Ireland has provided funding totalling €7 million for UNRWA’s Programme Budget and Emergency Appeals in Gaza and Syria. This is an increase of €1.5 million on the 2017 allocation, making this year’s contribution Ireland’s highest ever.

Ireland will also provide support in 2018 to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), the West Bank Protection Consortium and civil society organisations working to promote human rights and peacebuilding. In addition, preliminary work is underway to allow for a significant capital project, providing solar power to the NGEST water treatment plant in Gaza, to move to construction during 2019.

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