John Carty (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. Last Sunday he spent an interesting few hours in Westport, County Mayo, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Westport-Aror partnership, which raises funds for development in Aror, Kenya. I am sure he had a good time meeting Bishop Korir from Kenya and our own Archbishop, Dr. Neary, and that it was a very successful meeting. The Minister of State has a major interest in this area and prior to taking up office, he did great work on this issue. He will do even more from now on.

Irish Aid is the Government's programme of assistance to developing countries. It works in the poorest countries in the world and, in some of these countries, there are concerns surrounding governance issues, including corruption. For this reason, accountability and good governance are central components of the agency's programme strategies. Its staff support the building of capacity, including audit capacity, in its programmes. In this way Irish Aid fosters the conditions for sustainable development. In addition, programme strategies include monitoring and oversight frameworks to ensure the programme's assistance is implemented for the benefit of those for whom it is intended.

Irish Aid has in place rigorous accounting and audit controls, which are essential to ensuring a transparent, effective and high quality programme. The agency's programmes are regularly audited and evaluated by independent audit firms, by its own evaluation and audit unit and by the independent audit committee of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Programmes are evaluated to ensure funds are used for the purposes intended and in respect of outcomes and value for money. This ensures the programme strategies of Irish Aid, combined with its audit and evaluation systems, are effective, efficient and in accordance with the highest standards.

The overriding objective of Irish Aid is the reduction of poverty, inequality and exclusion in developing countries. All its policies and activities are measured against their contribution to the reduction of poverty and against the progress they achieve towards the development targets set by the international community. The eight millennium development goals, agreed by the UN at a series of international summit meetings, identify some of the main causes of extreme poverty in today's world and underpin the poverty reduction policies and activities of Irish Aid. The millennium development goals require the international community to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; to achieve universal primary education; to promote gender equality and empower women; to reduce child mortality; to improve maternal health; to combat HIV-AIDS, malaria and other diseases; to ensure environmental sustainability; and to develop a global partnership for development. The causes of poverty cannot be addressed in isolation and they are interwoven to such a degree that a comprehensive, holistic and cross-sectoral approach is crucial, if a real and sustainable reduction in poverty is to be achieved. The millennium development goals, and the special targets set to enable their achievement to be measured, provide the context in which Irish Aid priority sectors are decided.

Irish Aid enters into funding partnerships with various types of organisations in the delivery of its programmes. A strong effort is made to ensure these contributions serve to enhance the agency's core mission of alleviating poverty in a measurable and sustainable way. Development assistance is very broad and complex and a multifaceted approach is crucial in assisting the poorest countries in the world. Each grant focused on different aspects of development, all of which combine to offer a comprehensive response to the needs of the poorest people and countries in the world.

Recently Irish Aid made up to €1 million available for relief efforts for those affected by severe flooding in Mexico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and other countries in the region hit by Hurricane Noel. The region suffered some of the worst flooding in 50 years. At one stage, 80% of Mexico's Tabasco state was under water, with 900,000 people made homeless. The severity of the floods experienced in the Gulf of Mexico was shocking. The aid assistance announced by Irish Aid helped in the international effort to provide shelter and relief to those who had been worst affected. Irish Aid's funds were distributed through partner relief organisations operating in the region, including the UN and Red Cross and it provided valuable assistance to the people of the region when it was badly needed.

A Famine walk is held annually in County Mayo. Members of a red Indian tribe in America travel to Mayo to take part in the famous Doolough walk because during the Famine the tribe heard of the plight of the Irish people and they sent $50, which was a huge sum at the time, to help them. We are only doing today what they did to alleviate the stress in Ireland. I pay tribute to members of missionary societies who over many years did tremendous work in various Third World countries in the fields of education and health and who contributed greatly to their development. The work they did free is immeasurable and it is greatly appreciated by the people of these countries. I live in Knock and I occasionally meet people who were educated by Irish priests, nuns and lay people and it is gratifying to hear them speak so highly of the various Irish religious societies who gave so much to them. In the past few weeks, lay people from Ireland travelled to South Africa to build a number of homes for poor people there. This is a new concept, which provides practical help, and great credit is due to the volunteers who travel in this capacity. Neighbours of mine volunteered and they commented on how satisfying it was for them to do this work. I hope this tradition continues long into the future.