Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 9 April 2025
15. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide a list of the countries which are the primary beneficiaries of Irelands Development Aid Programme, in tabular form; if he is aware of any projects funded by Irish Aid that have been co-funded by US aid; if there are strategies in place to sustain these projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17942/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is firmly committed to Ireland’s international development assistance programme and its overriding priority, to reach the furthest behind first. The latest year for which full statistical detail of our Official Development Assistance (ODA) is available is 2023. Preliminary figures for 2024 will be available in the coming months. In 2023, the top ten recipient countries of Ireland's Bilateral ODA were as follows:
|
No |
Recipient Country |
€000’s |
|
1 |
Ethiopia |
39,469 |
|
2 |
Occupied Palestinian Territory* |
35,795 |
|
3 |
Ukraine |
28,224 |
|
4 |
Mozambique |
25,851 |
|
5 |
Tanzania |
24,913 |
|
6 |
Malawi |
23,687 |
|
7 |
Uganda |
20,358 |
|
8 |
Sierra Leone |
17,997 |
|
9 |
Zimbabwe |
10,651 |
|
10 |
South Sudan |
10,327 |
* This figure represents the overall support to the Palestinian people across the Middle East region. This includes €18 million in support through UNRWA, which directly supports Palestine refugees in five locations across the region: the West Bank, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
The list of the top 30 recipient countries is available as an Annex to the 2023 Irish Aid Annual Report and can be accessed at: assets.ireland.ie/documents/Irish_Aid_AR_2023_-_web.pdf.
Over recent years, we developed close collaboration with USAID on a range of thematic areas in development cooperation, including food security and nutrition, gender equality and locally-led climate adaptation. Irish Aid has partnered with USAID on a joint programme on food systems and nutrition, climate and gender equality in Malawi. Our planned investments in this programme will not be affected by decisions relating to USAID and work is ongoing to ensure the programme continues. Irish Aid had also agreed to work alongside USAID on food security and nutrition in Zambia but had not completed the design of a joint programme. Our work in this area Zambia will continue. Ireland will continue to work with a range of partners on food and nutrition programmes in both countries.
