Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. When we speak of the Irish Aid strategy, we immediately think of the amount of money Ireland will spend abroad on overseas aid development. Then we think of how long it will take to reach our target of 0.7% of gross national product, which will probably amount to €1.5 billion by the target date of 2012. This is a significant sum and Ireland is now the sixth highest donor in the world on a per capita basis, as the Minister of State has said.

The generosity of the Irish people knows no bounds when it comes to supporting and responding to famine, floods, HIV-AIDS in Africa, Asia and all over the world. It is important, therefore, the Government responds in a similar manner by ensuring there is total transparency, effectiveness, coherence and long-term sustainability in the projects it funds. When we spend €814 million in overseas development aid, as we did in 2006, it is imperative the Irish people know how this money is being spent. They must know how much is being swallowed up in administration, what projects are funded by the Irish Government, what countries are involved and what difference this aid makes locally.

It is important that the Irish people see the difference this funding makes daily to so many lives. We need to take this message into the livingroom of each household so that people understand and appreciate what some of their taxes pay for and contribute towards. Departmental officials emphasise that visits by Ministers, parliamentary representatives and, indeed, journalists to countries where projects are funded are usually welcomed by the governments of those countries. More importantly, such visits highlight to the Irish people the benefits of Irish Aid abroad.

Who, for instance, would have believed that Irish Aid was to assist more than 90 countries in 2006, with a particular focus on the eight programme countries? As the Minister of State said, Malawi is soon to become the ninth such country. It was of paramount importance, too, that more than €140 million was provided in 2006 to support the critical endeavours of non-governmental organisations, NGOs, who do such Trojan work and act so professionally abroad.

I welcome the fact Ireland is setting up a rapid reaction force to bring highly skilled people together to strengthen our response to disasters. This will bring a more co-ordinated and focused approach in the event of any further disasters, which will undoubtedly happen.

Ireland now leads the way within the European Union in terms of the proportion of official development assistance it allocates to the struggle against HIV. It is important that we are heavily involved and respond effectively to the HIV-AIDS pandemic in the context of an expanding aid programme. Aid for combatting HIV-AIDS and other communicable diseases increased to €100 million in 2006. This brought to €250 million the amount spent on HIV related programmes at global, regional, national and community levels over the past five years.

We must continue to support global partnerships such as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation and the William J. Clinton Foundation. When it is considered that Ireland provided more than €40 million for the strengthening of HIV and health services in Mozambique alone, it certainly brings home the magnitude of the problems worldwide. I was glad to hear from the Minister of State about the benefits that accrued to the people and the numbers being assisted by the provision of such money in Mozambique. The International Aids Vaccine Initiative, IAVI, which is working to develop an effective HIV vaccine, and the International Partnership for Microbicides, which is undertaking research to develop the medications that could significantly reduce HIV infections in women, should continue to be funded.

I welcome the fact that a new five-year strategy responding to HIV-AIDS in southern and eastern Africa will be directed at a large range of initiatives implemented by intergovernmental agencies, NGOs and other regional institutions. I also welcome the fact that the technical advisory group on HIV-AIDS and other communicable diseases has now developed disease profiles on each of Irish Aid's programme countries and has also provided direction on new priorities for HIV-AIDS and health expenditure.

It is a shame that over 100 million people go to bed hungry each night. The development of agriculture and sustainable food production must be the key to the longer-term development of the world's poorest countries. I welcome the recommendation in the White Paper for the establishment of a hunger task force to identify the contribution we can make to tackling the root cause of food insecurity, especially in Africa.

I pay tribute to the Irish missionaries who have worked tirelessly over the years in providing basic education and health services to people in Africa and throughout the world. Their dedication, commitment and hard work continue to be an example to us all and they have provided inspiration to many lay people who now follow in their footsteps and do so much good work providing homes, schools and other facilities to poorer communities that could never aspire to securing such facilities were it not for them. The lay missionaries now include carpenters, bricklayers, engineers and other individuals from all backgrounds and they are great ambassadors for Ireland. Very many groups and individuals from all over Ireland do wonderful work in Africa, Asia and South America and we should be justifiably proud of them and give them the necessary financial assistance or backing for their various projects should they encounter a shortfall.

My own parish, the Sacred Heart parish in Waterford, recently twinned with Zwelihle in South Africa after a survey of parishioners indicated they wished to be twinned with a Third World parish. Zwelihle is a large, sprawling township with a population of approximately 20,000 and is approximately 120 km to the south east of Capetown. One in every two adults in the township is either HIV-positive or has AIDS and there are 300 children living there who are orphaned as a result of AIDS. One third of the people live in single rooms that are just cement-block huts provided by the Government and two thirds live in temporary shacks of galvanised metal sheets. They have no floors, running water, toilets or ventilation. A Waterford couple who are members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and who work in the township guarantee that 100% of the moneys donated for the various twinning projects go directly to the chosen project with no administrative costs, either in Waterford or South Africa. I am sure there are many such projects nationwide and they should be assisted through State funding, especially if there is a shortfall. Perhaps the Minister of State will indicate if aid can be made available for such projects.

Peace-keeping represents an important form of aid in war-torn countries, in which the most vulnerable often suffer most. I pay tribute to the wonderful men and women in our Defence Forces who play a major role in UN peace-keeping operations. Their professionalism is recognised worldwide and this is clearly evident in every rank, from private upwards, on UN duty. It is a great honour that Lieutenant General Pat Nash has been given command of the UN mission in Chad and this testifies to the high regard in which our Defence Forces are held worldwide in respect of peace-keeping duties.

I welcome the White Paper on Irish Aid. The provision of assistance to and our co-operation with developing countries is a reflection of our responsibility to others and of our vision of a fair global society. Long may we, as a nation, continue to give aid generously and help those in greatest need.