Fiona O'Malley (Progressive Democrats)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Kitt, to the House. It is a pleasure to be here to discuss Ireland's aid policy, in which we can take great pride. I do not think our aid programme belongs to the Government — it belongs to everybody in the country who has ever made a contribution. It is a testament to the generous nature of the Irish people that so many of them have contributed, even in small ways, to the programme. It is a source of some shame internationally that the UN millennium development goals, which were mentioned by the Minister of State in his speech, are not to be achieved. It is good to have basic targets in respect of sanitation and education levels, etc. While it is unfortunate that the goals will not be met, that does not mean we should abandon any notion of working towards them. Ireland has a good track record. I am glad we are on track to meet the 0.7% target and to do what is right in that respect.

I would like to speak about my visits to Africa. When I was there for the first time, just after I was elected to the Dáil in 2002, I was struck by the need for agricultural reform. I travelled with various members of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank, which is a worthwhile body. The World Bank makes deals with Governments and, as has already been argued today, Governments are not always benign. The network was formed to try to make the World Bank accountable to parliamentarians. A British delegate on the trip to Africa made the point to me that nothing will change in Africa until agricultural reform takes place. There is no point in building schools and clinics if children and adults are so hungry that they cannot concentrate in school or travel to clinics. It was a real eye-opener for me.

There was a good article in yesterday's The Irish Times about Mr. Hernando de Soto, who is apparently the guy who came up with the "third way". I am not sure if the Minister of State is familiar with him. The newspaper article reaffirmed my ideas about the ownership of property. The history of Ireland has taught us that when people are given the right to own land, they are able to leave behind self-sustaining farming and become more ambitious. Mr. de Soto's thesis, as outlined in the powerful article in The Irish Times, is that people cannot access credit unless they have some kind of capital, such as a piece of land. That point is exemplified by the work of Professor Amartya Sen, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for economics some years ago for work he did on the development of micro-businesses in India. Many people, particularly women, were saved when they started to make small crafts which they were then able to sell. As they were able to trade, they then had the money they needed to feed their families and to develop their businesses.

I listened with interest to Senator Alex White's comments about trade. We need to accept that the ability to own land and conduct business is extremely important. I have not yet read Mr. Hernando de Soto's book, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else, but I think I will find it interesting. We need to learn lessons about reforming agriculture before we turn our attention to health and education. I recall the British delegate saying it was unfortunate that this was not a sexy topic and unfortunately Bono would not be campaigning for agricultural reform because it does not sound so good. However, this is the way we will deliver the change which is necessary in African society.

I refer to the Irish Aid programme dealing with gender-based violence. The Minister of State was also in Africa and met the group involved. I compliment him on this initiative which happens to be the first in the world and I am proud to say that Ireland is a pioneer in dealing with this issue.

The other issue I learned about on my visit to Africa was the plight of women and girls in African society. This relates largely to HIV-AIDS and also the fact that violence is used as a weapon of war. The devastation can be seen in Rwanda where the level of rape is extraordinary. Violence against women can be used, in particular in Muslim countries, as a weapon to annihilate populations. I applaud Ireland's continued support for UNFPA, in spite of opposition from various quarters, in particular, the United States.