Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

I doubt if the Minister of State watches the "Late Late Show" as I know he has other things to do. The Senator is referring to what was said on the Order of Business and he has distracted me.

It did not surprise me to hear Senator Buttimer and Senator Alex White congratulating the Minister of State on his speech. It was good of them to do so. They acknowledged it was not a political speech. I know the man who gave the speech. He is a former member of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and he is genuinely interested in the Third World and the budget for it. I often heard his contributions to the committee and it is a subject close to his heart. The Taoiseach made a good choice when he made him a Minister of State.

In 2003 the Minister of State's brother was the Minister of State with responsibility for Irish Aid. I was fortunate to go on a trip to Lesotho where I saw at first hand the role played by Irish Aid. The Irish taxpayers can be proud of the work being carried out on their behalf. As other speakers stated, there is an onus on us to ensure the Irish taxpayer is kept informed of where that hard-earned money is going. The projects in Lesotho which I saw were second to none. The largest project and one which was a source of great pride was to provide solar energy to a community. The use of such energy is a sensible option where so much sunshine is available. In some ways, sunshine can be a deterrent to progress as the temperatures are so high that crops die and people become ill as a result of the strong heat. However, solar energy can be built up for use in the dark evenings and cold nights which follow the hot day or for the winter season. It is right to help these communities by means of projects which will be of benefit into the future. I hate the phrase, "going forward", as we say in Ireland.

We also visited a hospital for HIV-AIDS victims. This was a heart-rending experience for anyone, even if they were made of stone. We visited a nearby orphanage where children as young as two or three months were left orphaned because both young parents had died of HIV-AIDS. Old and ageing grandparents in the townships were rearing grandchildren. They were hardly able to mind themselves, never mind rear grandchildren. Siblings as young as eight, nine or ten were rearing younger brothers and sisters.

I am delighted to know that Ireland is on target with 0.5% of gross domestic product to date which will be 0.6% of GDP by 2010. I am confident we will reach our target by 2012, something in which we can all take pride. I was amazed the Minister of State's budget was so high. It must be fast approaching the level of the budget of the Minister for Defence, if it has not already surpassed it. I know the budget will be well spent and the good work will continue.

I was in Cape Town in South Africa last December where I saw at first hand the great work of Niall Mellon, which has been alluded to by other speakers, in particular by Senator Buttimer. When one tells a taxi driver anywhere in the world that one is from Ireland, they invariably sing "Olé, Olé" but this man exclaimed: "My God, Niall Mellon, Niall Mellon. You know Mr. Mellon." He brought me to see the project site which was closed at the time because it was holiday time. I take my hat off to Mr. Mellon. He is a man who could be doing other things but he has taken this time out of his life and devoted huge financial resources to helping the less well-off in the world.