Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I welcome to the House the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Michael Kitt.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and my colleagues in the Seanad for this opportunity to present the work of the Irish Aid programme to the House and to set the context for it. As Senators are aware, the scale of global development challenges today are such that we need a truly international response if we are to improve the lives of the world's poorest people. A key step was taken by the United Nations General Assembly when it adopted the Millennium Declaration in 2000. The declaration sets out the millennium development goals which include halving extreme poverty, halting the spread of HIV-AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by 2015. Ireland, along with other donor countries, has committed to doing its part to meet these goals. We are now the sixth largest donor in the world in per capita terms and we remain on target to allocate 0.7% of gross national income to development assistance by 2012. This year, our total spending on development assistance is on track to reach €815 million. The central objective of our programme is to tackle poverty and marginalisation in the poorest countries in the world. For this reason we will continue to focus our efforts on sub-Saharan Africa.

The millennium development goals, or MDGs as they are commonly known, succeeded in renewing the commitment of the international community to development. However, we are half way to the 2015 target date and it is not clear at this stage that all the goals will be met. Only 13 out of 53 African countries, for example, are on course to cut absolute poverty by half by 2015. An estimated 980 million people worldwide still live in abject poverty. Half the developing world has no access to basic sanitation and half a million women still die during pregnancy or childbirth each year. This is clearly an affront to our common humanity and it calls for further concerted international action.

Ireland supports the proposal by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to request the Secretary General of the United Nations to convene a meeting in September next year to discuss progress on implementation of the MDGs. The Taoiseach has asked me to champion the goals and I intend to do so proactively. Increasing the level of global resources allocated to development is obviously key. The White Paper on Irish Aid published last year put the case succinctly. We have a moral obligation to help those who are most vulnerable and marginalised and it is also in our interest to do so. Economic progress, peace and security are shared challenges in our increasingly inter-dependent world. The expansion of the Irish Aid programme in recent years has allowed us to play our part by directing more resources to areas that have the greatest impact on poverty, including health and education.

I will now outline a few concrete examples of the impact of this support. The majority of people suffering from HIV and AIDS are in developing countries and the toll of the disease is highest on the poor and those least able to cope. Irish Aid now spends €100 million each year on prevention strategies and better access to treatment for this and other communicable diseases. This follows a commitment given by the Taoiseach to the United Nations General Assembly in 2005. I saw the results for myself during a recent visit to Mozambique where home-based care has considerably improved the life expectancy and quality of life of thousands of people. By the end of last year our partnership with the Clinton Foundation in Mozambique had enabled more than 44,000 people suffering from AIDS to be treated in 150 health centres.

Education is also central to the fight against poverty. As we are well aware in Ireland, investment in education drives economic development. Education is also an important means of promoting health, good governance and protecting the environment. The focus of Irish Aid is on primary education, where the needs are greatest. In Ethiopia, for example, Irish Aid has supported the training of 30,000 primary school teachers and the construction of 145 primary schools last year. Enrolment in primary schools in Lesotho has increased from 57% in 1990 to over 80% today, again with Irish Aid assistance. I cite these examples to give Senators an idea of how Irish Aid funding is making a tangible difference to the lives of some of the world's poorest people.

Needless to say, Irish Aid cannot realise its objectives on its own. We continue to work very closely, as we have always done, with non-governmental and missionary organisations. Our missionaries have a long-established and unique track record of working with the poorest of the poor. NGOs are often best placed to respond quickly and appropriately to sudden emergencies. Our support to this area reached more than €100 million last year and we provided more than €140 million to longer-term work by these organisations. The horn of Africa has been a particular focus of our support of late and Irish Aid has also been active in responding to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Darfur.

The United Nations and European Union tackle poverty at a global level. They need and deserve the ongoing support of donor countries. These organisations have a key leadership role in ensuring that aid efforts are not duplicated. Ireland has increased the level of assistance channelled through United Nations programmes in recent years and we are working to put framework agreements in place with UNICEF, the UNDP, the UNFPA and the UNHCR. The European Union is the largest development assistance donor in the world. Member states and the European Commission together provided almost €50 billion to more than 150 countries and territories in 2006, representing more than half of global development assistance.

Through the European Development Fund, Ireland is expected to contribute €206 million approximately between 2008 and 2013. Accountability and effectiveness are important considerations and we will continue to be at the forefront of the UN reform agenda and promote aid effectiveness in the European Union context.

Our bilateral programme and work with international partners is guided by the White Paper on Irish Aid published last year. The White Paper reiterated our core principles, including partnership with recipient countries. It committed Irish Aid to increase its partner countries from eight to ten. The decision to make Malawi our ninth partner country this year will allow us to strengthen further the poverty and Africa focus of our programme.

The White Paper announced a number of initiatives to build on Ireland's particular strengths. Our experience in improving agricultural productivity and the priority we attach to food security issues mean we are well placed to provide leadership in this area. With this in mind, a hunger task force of international experts, chaired by the former Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr. Joe Walsh, was established this year. The task force is expected to report by the middle of next year and make concrete recommendations which will contribute to wider efforts to halve world hunger and poverty by 2015.

We have also been building our capacity to respond in a more cohesive way during sudden emergencies. As promised in the White Paper, a rapid response initiative was launched recently to draw on public and private sector expertise and make a real difference in these situations. It will allow essential supplies to be pre-positioned in forward bases in Europe and Africa. A rapid response corps with a select number of Irish experts is now available to be deployed at short notice to assist our partner agencies. This is backed up with advance funding for key partners such as the UN, the International Red Cross and non-governmental organisations to allow them the flexibility to scale up their response capabilities.

The Irish public has traditionally offered tremendous support for missionary and lay work in developing countries and we need to build a greater sense of ownership of our national aid programme as it expands in the coming years. We also have an opportunity to build on a growing willingness of people to get personally engaged. An Irish Aid volunteering and public information centre will open in O'Connell Street, Dublin, early next year to capture this interest. The centre will be a resource for those who want to know more about volunteering and for schools and other groups that wish to learn about global development challenges, the role of Ireland in responding and the difference individuals can make.

It is important also that there is coherence across Government on development issues. The White Paper contained a commitment to establish an interdepartmental committee on development to strengthen coherence in the Government's approach and endeavour to make best use of the expertise and skills available across the public service. I recently chaired the second meeting of the committee and I am bringing the group together again at the end of this month. It has already contributed to a greater sense of common understanding and purpose among its members.

We will need collective efforts at the individual, local, national and international levels if we are to respond effectively to the challenges I have outlined. Ireland is on track to honour its commitment to the millennium development goals but there is no sense of complacency. Irish Aid will continue to build on its international reputation for the quality of its programme. We will work effectively and innovatively to respond to the needs of the world's poorest people through our bilateral programme and co-operation with multilateral institutions, NGOs, global partnerships and other donors. The scale and variety of the challenges mean that the responses are by definition complex. However, keeping the ultimate aim of the programme in mind imposes a useful discipline. This is to empower the world's poorest and most marginalised people to lift themselves out of poverty. I look forward to working with the Seanad to help realise this ambition.

Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)
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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.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I will outline the scope of Ireland's current aid programme and examine some of the evolving trends in overseas development and how the measures outlined in the White Paper and programme for Government are embraced and facilitated in this regard.

It is useful to begin by putting Ireland's overseas aid budget in perspective in terms of its size and historical growth rate and by comparing it with that of other nations. Ireland's total aid budget has increased from €22 million in 1981 to €815 million in 2007. The goal is to double this to reach a target of €1.5 billion, or 0.7% of gross national income, ahead of the EU target date of 2015. In real terms, this means that between 2007 and 2012, Ireland could spend as much as €6 billion on overseas aid. The OECD has ranked Ireland sixth in the world in terms of overseas development per capita. The United States is only ranked 20th of 22 in this regard.

Ireland channels over half its overseas development aid to the least-developed countries and this is the largest share channelled thus by the members of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee. Unlike many European countries, Ireland does not tie its aid to trade. Irish Aid works in partnership with countries without the expectation of return and it is this type of principle that ensures Ireland's foreign policy is respected throughout the world. Therefore, by any reasonable benchmark, our scale and rate of contribution are remarkable and our targets are ambitious.

The quantity and geographical distribution of projects to which our aid is applied are impressive and their range and diversity are well known. Ireland's overseas assistance currently takes a wide sweep of forms, including direct long-term development programs in eight partner countries in Africa and Asia, which programmes address infrastructure, health care and education; funding of private NGOs and Irish missionaries' work in over 90 countries; sponsoring HIV prevention programs, through the Clinton Foundation, in Brazil and throughout Africa; post-graduate scholarship programs in Irish universities for foreign students; assistance in setting up government institutions in post-conflict environments such as Bosnia; and our Fairtrade initiative, an example of which is evident in this Parliament's restaurant.

These are just some of the numerous areas to which Irish overseas aid is directed. The results, as outlined by the Minister of State, are for all to see. In Mozambique, we have set up 83 HIV-AIDS counselling and testing centres and over 250,000 people have availed of their services since 2004. In Northern Province, Zambia, a programme of well and borehole building has been completed and fresh water is now provided to over 113,000 people. In the past ten years, 75 minefields have been cleared in Mozambique with the help of the HALO Trust. Irish Aid supports the health sector in Uganda in making a real difference in the delivery of primary care. The immunisation rate for childhood diseases is now at 89% for the entire country and over 78% of Ugandans are within 5 km of health care centres. In Lesotho, to which Ireland is the largest donor, since 1990 there has been a 32% reduction in the mortality rate of children under five years. Enrolment in primary schools has increased from 57% in 1999 to more than 82%. The Government White Paper outlined by the Minister of State includes a rapid reaction initiative, a hunger task force led by Joe Walsh and a schools linking and immersion scheme which will help Irish schools to get in contact with their counterparts in the developing world to help increase mutual understanding.

The governance unit is also part of Irish Aid's work. It will oversee our work in helping to create better and more accountable governments, reduce corruption and ensure our money gets to where it is most needed. The unit for conflict resolution in the Department of Foreign Affairs will draw on our own sad historic past, including previous conflicts in the North, and will use these efforts in helping other countries in similar situations.

The nature of overseas aid has changed dramatically in recent years in terms of its goals, the form it takes and how it is channelled. The result has been a move towards creating a culture of independence as opposed to a culture of dependence, as was often the case with overseas aid. Ireland's direct long-term development programmes in partner countries are an example of how we provide countries with the infrastructure, tools and expertise to enable them to progress rather than just provide charity. This strategy creates sustainable improvements in the lives of ordinary people through building systems to address the causes of poverty rather than simply ameliorating the symptoms.The governments and peoples of our partner countries are primarily responsible for their own development and will lead the development process. However for their part, our partner countries must work to combat corruption, ensure effective and responsible government, promote democracy and protect human rights.

More aid now comes from the private sector internationally through private individuals, corporations, non-governmental organisations and voluntary groups as opposed to the public sector which was traditionally the major source. Increasingly it is being recognised that governments can only do so much and a significant impact is being made by ordinary citizens working individually, by corporations and by non-governmental organisations. A key facet of this trend has been the emergence of privately funded foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and those established by Warren Buffett and Bill Clinton. This trend has resulted in increased innovation in terms of how funds are applied and the form that aid takes. This harnessing of market forces to fight poverty, or "creative capitalism" as it is termed by Bill Gates, has an increasing future role in overseas development aid. However, a significant impact is also being made by the private individual or active citizens.

The success and impact of contributions from the private sector through the initiative of private individuals has been amply demonstrated in this country by the effectiveness of projects such as the Niall Mellon Township Trust whereby more than 100 Irish people participated in the building of houses in South Africa in recent weeks, and the Alan Kerins African Projects which will be familiar to many Members from his appearance before the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Development Co-operation on 22 June 2005 organised by Deputy Michael D. Higgins.

While completing a three-month voluntary placement with Sr. Cathy Crawford, an Irish missionary who runs the Cheshire home for physically disabled children in a province in western Zambia that is two and a half times the size of Ireland, Alan Kerins was moved to do something by the plight of locals who were facing a famine due to 75% crop failure brought on by the worst drought for nearly 100 years. He raised €11,000 for immediate aid to alleviate the food shortages caused by crop failure. His actions helped save the lives of 800 families, saving more than 4,000 people from certain death far from the glare of world media. Using his profile as an inter-county hurler and his experiences in Africa as leverage, he subsequently organised a foundation which, among other activities, has raised funds to bore wells to help with irrigation for the villages in western Zambia to ensure a culture of independence is created and future famine is averted.

The establishment of the Irish Aid Information and Volunteer Centre, a key innovation outlined in the White Paper, will make more and better information available to the public about all aspects of volunteering opportunities for individuals, institutions and communities. It is hoped that 50,000 people a year will visit the centre on O'Connell Street. This measure will help to promote, inspire and encourage more volunteerism and active citizenship by ordinary individuals, resulting in more success stories such as the Alan Kerins and Niall Mellon projects. I believe there exists the potential for significant synergistic overlap between the Government's active citizenship program and its overseas development programme. These types of projects have demonstrated the power of ordinary people to have an extraordinary impact on the lives of others because in the words of Martin Luther King:"Everyone can be great because everyone can serve."

Another innovation, which was mentioned earlier, is the conflict resolution centre. An example of this innovation in action was a meeting between parties involved in the Northern Ireland conflict and members of various Iraqi factions which was held in Helsinki. The meeting was chaired by Martin McGuinness who was able to share the experience of the parties in Northern Ireland in coming to a peaceful agreement.

The Government White Paper is an ambitious blueprint and programme in a world where 4 billion people live on less than $2 per day, 35,000 children a day die of preventable diseases and 20,000 die of hunger or hunger-related causes. Overseas aid continues to present one of the principal, constantly evolving and difficult challenges facing the governments of developed nations today. We must strive not only to reach our goals in terms of increasing the amount of overseas aid but also to ensure that aid is directed correctly to achieve maximum effect. The further strengthening of Irish Aid, as outlined in the White Paper, should help to ensure this objective is achieved. We have a strong obligation to the citizens of this country to do so, but we have a stronger obligation to the people of the developing world and our fellow citizens of the world to achieve the goals we have set.

David Norris (Independent)
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I wish to share my time with Senator Mullen and Senator Bacik.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

David Norris (Independent)
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I am being greedy in taking seven or eight minutes while the remaining time will be shared between the Senators. I think it is five or six minutes and three minutes. I know the Leas-Chathaoirleach will be his usual flexible self.

I welcome the Minister of State, who is an old friend from the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs. I noticed that we were visited by a distinguished delegation led by the Chairman of that committee. I am not sure which countries were represented but it is good they came to the House.

I note some positive things in the Minister of State's speech, such as the acknowledgement of the need to move towards a goal of 0.7% of gross national product by 2012, given the disappointment of an earlier promise which was given categorically by the Taoiseach. At least, we are more or less on track, which I definitely welcome.

I remember when, during a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee of Foreign Affairs, Liz O'Donnell, who was a member of the Government at the time, said that the only way to copperfasten it was to legislate for it and put in an annual budget head. That is what is necessary if one is serious about it so let us do it. Let us not have pious conversation about it. We are at 0.5%, which is reasonably healthy. We expect to get to 0.6% by 2010 and 0.7% by 2012. I know the Minister of State will be on our side with regard to this but let us legislate for it. If we are serious about giving commitments, let us copperfasten them.

I also very much welcome the idea of a hunger task force. Of course, our aid has increased. It is about €800 million this year. We have an obligation to the Irish taxpayer to ensure we invest in the expertise which will allow us to administer it effectively. I am saying this following Hans Zomer from Dóchas which recently launched a very important series of documents just down the road from this House. We must monitor international trade agreements to ensure that the selfish northern countries do not, through their trade agreements, significantly undermine the money transferred from Irish taxpayers. There is not much point if it ends up in the pockets of multinationals.

I wish to raise the issue of corruption. I was astonished by the fact that there was not a single mention of it in the Minister of State's speech. In addition, there was no mention of it in the speech of the principal spokesman for the Opposition, although Senator Daly did make a glancing reference to it twice in his speech. However, they were glancing references and I think we must really look at the issue. The nine developing countries that have received most of our aid — in other words, taxpayers' money from this country — remain at the bottom of the scale measuring levels of corruption, although there have been some improvements. All but two of those programme countries nominated by Irish Aid, the Government's overseas development division, score less than three in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. This is a ghastly phenomenon and suggests we should get as much money as possible directly to NGOs, particularly to people like Mr. John O'Shea and Mr. Niall Mellon, who builds houses in South Africa. As an Irish person I am proud of that and we know that every penny goes directly to helping people, which is not the case with the hundreds of millions siphoned off by corrupt dictators for their floozies, mistresses, arms and toys for big boys. That is not why we pay tax in this country.

If we are serious we can ratify the UN Convention against Corruption. I understand we have not done so and I ask the Minister of State to give a commitment to ratifying the convention or else a convincing reason why we have not done so. We must publish that legislation within the term of this Parliament.

We should also adopt the UN human rights norms for business guidelines, which we have not done. We should push for an international convention to end banking secrecy. This allows these blackguards to squirrel their money away in numbered bank accounts in respectable European countries such as Switzerland. As a compliant tax payer, who has just shelled out €20,000 in preliminary tax returns, I do not want to see it in Mobutu Sese Seko's bank account in Geneva. I object to that. We seek better governance and should help those who improve. Those who do not should not receive a penny. Instead, the money should be distributed through agencies such as GOAL and Mr. Niall Mellon.

We should support the extractive industry's transparency initiative and the publish what you pay initiatives. Many of these countries in Africa have major natural resources and are being exploited in the interest of dictators and multinationals. We are entitled to know what is happening. It is a filthy thing when we see leaders taking money from the poorest and the most disadvantaged, money to which these groups are entitled. This has major consequences and means disease, lack of water and the capacity to survive on this planet. The sums involved are enormous, hundreds of millions and up to €15 billion in some cases. This is inappropriate. We need to set up clean water systems.

There is major embezzlement and extortion by officials, weak financial administration and no accountability in these recipient countries. Mr. Martin Meredith, one of the shrewdest observers of Africa points out that of 53 countries in Africa, only South Africa and Botswana are better off now than under colonial rule, an appalling indictment. The African Union acknowledges that $148 billion is lost to corruption. Why are we feeding this corruption? It is like pouring petrol on flames.

The US Senate established a committee that reported its findings in a study in 2004 that the World Bank has lost $1 billion of funds slated for development in the worlds poorest countries since 1946. This amounts to a 20% bleed-off of its lending portfolio to keep these corrupt people. Mr. Paul Wolfowitz attempted to do something, as did Mr. Hilary Benn, who called for an international framework. At the instigation of people like Bono, the G8 is increasing aid by $50 million but Mr. Hilary Benn, who I know, states that it is hard to see how this bonanza will help to eradicate poverty unless governments on the continent are serious about fighting corruption.

I suggest a few ideas. Can a government that signally fails to guarantee the wellbeing of its citizens be trusted with our money when we know it is on the take? We are aware of it. In November 2006, the Department of Foreign Affairs acknowledged to the Committee of Public Accounts that dealing with corrupt governments of countries such as Ethiopia and Uganda was "not ideal", a phrase that keeps cropping up. It is the diplomatic term for "completely rotten". In May, the audit committee of the Department of Foreign Affairs highlighted the absence of a clear fraud policy in the Department. We should have one.

Deputy Michael Noonan, then Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, stated on 2 June that it would be considered inadvisable to accept the audit of a government of sub-Saharan Africa. Let us deal with Ethiopia and Uganda, counties that are a byword for scandal. We gave €29 million and €32 million respectively to these countries. Do we know where it went? We know where a significant proportion of it went. This disgraces the wonderful work of Father Shay Cullen and Mr. Tom Hyland, who I am proud to call a friend. I brought him to the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs but we are letting down these people. I am astonished there was no mention of corruption in the speech of the Minister of State.

Ivana Bacik (Independent)
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I will share time with Senator Mullen. As one of the Senators who called for a debate on this matter I welcome this opportunity. Senator Norris has made numerous requests of the Minister of State, to which I will add two. It is important that Irish Aid and Irish development policy focuses on these two matters. I am pleased the Minister of State mentioned the reproductive health of women in developing countries, stating that 500,000 women die in childbirth or pregnancy each year. I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Comfort Momoh, an African British doctor, who has been working tirelessly to combat the effects of female genital mutilation among women from Africa in Britain. She spoke eloquently of the problems that women face in developing countries, particularly in respect of female genital mutilation and the major health risks and high mortality rate they face as a result. Irish Aid has a proud record of helping women and assisting them to improve prospects of survival in childbirth and pregnancy.

I ask that the Minister of State makes disability and development a priority in development aid. Ireland signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, one of 118 countries to do so. Unfortunately we have not ratified it and I request the Minister of State to commit to ratifying it. Article 32 of the convention requires, in particular, that states co-operate internationally in addressing the difficulties of people with disabilities. The convention recognises the clear link between disability and poverty. In keeping with Article 32, we could mainstream disability rights and issues into Irish Aid's priorities and Irish development policy. There are 600 million people with disabilities worldwide, of which 80% live in developing countries. The World Bank has estimated that those with disabilities comprise 20% of the poorest of the poor. We also know that only 2% of disabled children in developing countries receive any education. Clearly, disability and poverty have been inextricably linked. In order to tackle poverty and development we must make disability a priority.

Senator Norris referred to the World Bank. In 2002 the president of the World Bank made the point that unless disabled people are brought into the development mainstream it will be impossible to give every girl or boy the chance to achieve primary education by 2015 or cut poverty in half and thus to achieve the millennium development goals. Given that this is a key priority of Irish Aid we must address it.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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The Minister of State made an impressive presentation but I was struck by the fact that we are sixth in the world in terms of per capita donation. We can be proud of this but we can attempt to improve on it. We should aim to be the best in the world in per capita contribution to overseas aid.

Let us cast our minds back to that summer evening in 1985 when Bob Geldof told everyone not to go to the pub, to stay in and to give money because people were dying. It was a passionate plea and represents a memorable quote from a miserable decade. Geldof's efforts at that time on behalf of the world's poor, particularly those in Africa, were a major source of pride for us. So also was the generosity of ordinary people in this country. Per head of population, Ireland was among the best contributors to Live Aid.

It is time, however, to move beyond the touching of our hearts and to contemplate using our heads to tackle global poverty. Helping the needy is part of our heritage and much worthy comment has been made about the great example set by our missionaries abroad and about the many Irish people employed as aid workers who have followed in the footsteps of the former and work alongside them in many instances. Our Irish Aid commitment is truly impressive and reflects our great national tradition.

A number of issues remain to be discussed. I refer, for example, to the question of who gets our money. Much of our money is rightly given to NGOs such as Trócaire, GOAL and Concern. However, there are concerns about the money being given to foreign governments. Corruption is undoubtedly a problem in Africa, where we are focusing our overseas development spend. According to a report in 2002, corruption costs Africa approximately $150 billion annually. To place that in context, the annual budget for one African country, Burundi, is just $300 million. This is a serious problem.

There is a debate with regard to whether, as Senator Norris stated, money should be given to agencies and individuals with proven records in addressing need or whether we should continue to fund governments. Despite the reservations of John O'Shea, who has an excellent track record, and others, the balance of opinion seems to favour the policy of contributing to governments. Even though there are problems with corruption, the governments control the networks through which aid can reach people.

When dealing with corruption, we should perhaps take the example of President Bush who announced in 2004 that he would link American aid to improved governance in the Third World. A total of 41 countries have signed agreements with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, MCC, the body administering the programme. Improvements have been made and practical advantages have been experienced by people, including farmers in Madagascar, where poor soil meant that opportunities to earn money were extremely limited. Last year, in partnership with the MCC, an association of 18 villagers began producing from local trees essential oils from that could be used as cosmetics. Within two months their efforts had been successful and one of the villagers managed to save $500. That is the kind of practical benefit that accrues and it shows us that a real issue exists with regard to ensuring good governance.

We must not merely trust the governments receiving funds. I suggest that Irish Aid should set aside part of its budget to create incentives for better governance. There is a need to take more seriously the issue of monitoring how money is spent. In that regard, Irish Aid needs more staff. It is a popular belief that as little as possible should be spent on administration and that the money should be sent directly to where it is needed. That might make sense on an emotional level. However, in order to ensure that the money we provide is spent properly, the staffing complement of Irish Aid must be increased. The OECD's development assistance committee warned that Ireland must increase staff numbers in order to keep pace with the growing budget.

Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State. I thank him for responding so quickly to Senators' requests for a debate on this matter.

Everybody knows the history of Irish Aid. As a child, I contributed to the black babies, which was my first introduction to such aid. Irish people have been giving money for many years in order to help the world's poorest people. Irish Aid's programmes have grown considerably in the past decade. As the Minister of State indicated, in 1997 we contributed €142 million. In 2006, that figure had risen to €814 million. Ireland is a wealthy and developed nation. We are now, more than ever, in a position to help those in greater need in some of the world's poorest countries.

As previous speakers stated, Ireland is the sixth highest aid donor per capita in the world. It is very encouraging that we have pledged to reach the United Nations' target of 0.7% of our gross national income by 2012. How will this money be spent? In that context, we should consider the programme itself and the developing countries where money is needed. There are eight to ten countries that are prioritised by Irish Aid and all of them suffer from extreme poverty. However, they are also afflicted by varying degrees of corruption, a lack of transparency, war, political instability and severe problems relating to governance. As a result of the huge increase in the money allocated by Irish Aid, it is only proper to clearly outline the Government's priorities regarding why, how and where this money is being spent. How much of it is being taken by corrupt officials?

There are core principles relating to how the money to which I refer should be administered and what programmes should be prioritised. We must first consider the stakeholders. It is extremely important that we should work with the governments and the people in the countries in question. We must develop the capacity and the accountability of those governments. We must aim to promote democracy and protect human rights.

If we are to start at the beginning, we must ask ourselves how we might eradicate poverty and hunger. I compliment the Government which has established the hunger task force, which is chaired by Joe Walsh, a former Minister for Agriculture and Food, who is extremely knowledgeable and who will be well able to steer the task force into considering ways of how we might best reduce hunger and poverty.

We must consider the causes of poor health and examine ways of strengthening the health systems in developing countries. We must also consider how to reduce child mortality and the number of women who die in childbirth and improve maternal health. Everyone is well aware that the mortality rate among baby girls in developing countries is approximately 40%. Women in these countries are not immunised, they marry early and many of their children die in infancy. It is hugely important, therefore, that Irish Aid should work with NGOs to lift communities out of poverty. Irish Aid must recognise the work of those NGOs, which have a massive impact on the lives of people throughout the developing world. I am glad the Government contributed €1 million to prevention programmes.

We must also try to achieve universal primary education in order to ensure that all boys and girls complete primary school. Joined-up thinking is needed in this regard and we must involved the stakeholders in considering how the programme relating to this matter should be monitored.

Consideration must also be given to how to combat HIV-AIDS, malaria and other diseases. More than 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV. Thanks to the emergence of ARV drugs, their quality of life has improved enormously. It is important that Irish Aid continues to ensure availability of the necessary treatments in this regard.

The environment has been adopted by Irish Aid as a priority issue, particularly in the context of access to water, safe drinking water and basic sanitation. We should focus on working within the parameters of the United Nations framework convention and the EU's plan to combat climate change. Everyone is aware of the impact climate change will have on land management activities, rural infrastructure and water management. I welcome the initiative of the Rapid Response Corps to help the victims of humanitarian disasters. The body to which I refer is comprised of people who have expertise in providing relief operations in disaster areas.

The area which must be highlighted more than ever is that relating to how trade might be developed and links made with the business world. Ireland is helping developing countries to work with institutions such as the World Trade Organisation, under the aid for trade agenda, in order to promote the development of their private sectors, which have a role to play in helping communities to escape from poverty.

I wish to highlight the work and commitment of one man whom I know personally, Niall Mellon. He developed the Niall Mellon Township Trust and many recent articles in daily newspapers praised him and highlighted how he is transforming townships for the poor. The Government has recognised this and I understand it will invest €5 million in the township trust. We have a golden opportunity to develop further private sector development in our programme countries.

As the Irish Aid programme continues to grow over the coming years, it is critical that the public is engaged with its work. I am delighted to hear about the opening of the Irish Aid volunteering and information centre on Dublin's O'Connell Street. Other such centres should be opened in cities throughout Ireland. The centre is ideal for spreading the word in schools, universities and third level institutions. We should aim to have one in every town. Why not use retired people? We do not need elaborate offices, just little holes in the wall somewhere with a person giving out information on volunteerism and relating to and lecturing students on how the programme works. We have a code of practice but young Irish people do not know this.

I know about the project in Waterford outlined by Senator Cummins which was twinned with the project in South Africa and I compliment the group responsible for it. Opportunities such as this exist. The old school method of giving aid is finished. We must examine other ways and means such as the Niall Mellon Township Trust, schools and young people who want to get involved, and joined-up thinking by the information centre and various Departments to maximise expertise to develop programmes. We must not sit back. We have a large sum of money and we must give the public ownership of it and let people know we are serious and will increase our target by 2012. We must keep showing examples and increase our standing from being the sixth largest donor.

Why have we not planned to have these centres throughout Ireland? Every summer, young students have three or four months' holidays. They would love to volunteer and, instead of spending money on other projects, have the opportunity to give back what they received from their education. Let this be a future project. We should open up the doors and let the public know its money is well spent with value for money and quality programmes established with highly respectable non-governmental organisations who know the score in these countries. The NGOs know where there are corrupt officials and how to reach out and get to the source of an issue.

We have a major project which is workable. Let us work together and let the public know we will work to ensure its money is spent wisely on good programmes which will be a success and that we will be first on the list of donor countries by 2015.

Alex White (Labour)
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This House has a high level of consensus on this issue. In his speech, the Minister of State stated Ireland has a moral obligation to address these issues and he is correct. However, it goes beyond a moral obligation. This matter has a political dimension which the Minister of State touched on in his speech and we should reflect on it in this discussion.

If we are to rebalance the wealth in the world we must acknowledge that if we make decisions which will affect and improve the lives of the millions of people who require us to change the way things are done, in our part of the world we may experience pain. When political decisions are made, some people gain and others lose. There is no question that in this part of the world we must face up to the fact that we have been slow to accept the developed world must take a degree of pain in rebalancing wealth in our world and time.

We must spend more time on the trade system. Even though we are a small country we need to understand the importance of the international trade system and how often it militates against the interests of developing countries. One hears much talk about the mantra of free trade. I do not state I am against free trade. Trade is vital and the Minister of State said countries should be encouraged as far as possible to trade their way out of poverty, which is a laudable objective.

Many countries we know today as great industrial and economic powers, such as Japan, exercised an extraordinary amount of protection of their emerging industries 100 years ago and during the 20th century. It is amazing how quick we are to turn around to developing countries and state that they must observe this pure form of trade and that they must be prevented at all costs from taking any steps, however modest, to protect emerging industries.

More importantly for this country, inevitably pain must be sustained in the area of subsidy for agriculture in Europe. We cannot walk away from the fact that this system of subsidy, which we have had over many years and generations, is protectionism. I appreciate the system has changed. However, it has not changed quickly enough. Countries such as the United States which lecture every country in the world, including those in the developing world, against protectionism and tariff systems are quick to turn around and take major steps to protect their steel industry.

This is relevant to the issue we are discussing because we need to understand not only our moral obligation to take a stand but also a political obligation. Ireland has a good reputation internationally on many of these issues as other Senators pointed out. I will not repeat the points on the contribution of so many Irish people and Governments of all political hues. We need to be straight. We are discussing involving the electorate more in the question of aid and I welcome the Government's initiative to open up information on what Irish Aid does. We could go a step further and use this opportunity to foster real debate in society on what needs to be done to rebalance wealth in our world.

The question of international migration policy has been raised on many occasions in the House. This is also relevant to aid policy although in the immediate sense it may not appear to be. We must be prepared to encourage and facilitate the hundreds of thousands and in some cases millions of people who will inevitably move from one side of the world to the other and follow opportunities to make a living for themselves and their families. We are struggling with this issue with regard to our procedures and whether we should change our laws to facilitate people to travel to Ireland. We forget sometimes that all of these numbers and statistics we discuss are human beings seeking a better life. It cuts across into the debate on aid and the changing world. We need to facilitate people's movement to the richer parts of the world and, it is to be hoped, their return to help rebuild their own countries. Rather than allow migration become a brain drain with adverse consequences for the countries from which people emigrated, we should have flexible international migration policies. An enlightened approach to migration which complements our aid strategies should be considered at EU and international levels. We should also take a more politicised position internationally on fairness in trade.

The Minister of State acknowledged the role of Irish non-governmental organisations and referred to the ability of Irish Aid to carry out its strategies. Of all areas of Government policy, the latter is the least amenable to self-congratulation. I commend the Minister of State on giving a balanced and carefully crafted contribution, although I am not sure whether the same could be said for some of his Seanad colleagues.

Unlike many of the speeches given by other Ministers, the Minister of State's speech was not replete with self-congratulation. However, it failed to refer to the concerns held by many people regarding the staffing of Irish Aid. I am not sure if the decentralisation debate will ever be concluded but how can the relocation of Irish Aid from Dublin, where much of the development knowledge is located, meet the Minister of State's objective of making best use of public service expertise? I do not criticise Limerick in any way when I say that it is time to abandon the notion of moving Irish Aid from the critical mass of expertise on which it relies. As Deputy Burton noted in the Dáil, a fear of ambition is sometimes evident in that regard. We take initiatives such as the O'Connell Street office but staff in Irish Aid should be able to plan their campaigns, retain their expertise and know where they will be in two years' time. I would be very concerned if any policies were adopted to undermine that. I would welcome if the Minister of State could indicate for the House whether the suggestions that a cap was put on Irish Aid recruitment are true.

It would be churlish to suggest that progress has not been made on the Government's commitment to the UN aid target of 0.7% of gross national product. We were all disappointed that the Taoiseach's original promise in that regard was not met but we are progressing towards a 2012 deadline. However, as my party has consistently argued, what is the objection to making a solemn commitment in legislation that the 2012 deadline will be met? I understand Governments do not like to fetter themselves but the Irish people do not want to allow the Government any flexibility on this UN target. The Minister of State should revisit the proposal made by my party and others that the commitment be enshrined in legislation.

Several Scandinavian countries have gone beyond the 0.7% target and some have even gone as far as 1.7%, so the UN commitment should not be considered as a ceiling. It would be unfortunate if it was regarded as anything besides a minimum commitment for the coming years.

The initiative taken by the Minister of State in respect of providing information on Irish Aid's operations is welcome but I hope an opportunity is offered for a wider debate on the guiding principles of our aid programme. I make no apologies for seeking a more politicised debate on our priorities and would support any initiative the Government might take in that regard.

Déirdre de Búrca (Green Party)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for his contribution. Few in this House would disagree that Ireland's development aid programme is among the best in the world. That is not to say, however, there is no room for improvement. Politicians have been able to resource the aid programme so well because of the strong support that exists among the public for it. Irish people have always had strong sympathy for the plight of those in the developing world.

The causes for the systemic poverty experienced in the developing world are interwoven and require cross-sectoral intervention programmes in the areas of health, education, agriculture, food security, water and sanitation, infrastructure and roads, trade and the broader area of good governance. The commitments made in the programme for Government will help to address many of these issues. The overseas development aid budget will have been increased to 0.7% of gross national product by 2012 and a commitment has been made that the annual budget statement will contain an outline of the target for the coming year and a report on progress to date. That is a welcome development which will increase transparency on the question of whether we are approaching the target.

We have also agreed in the programme for Government to spend at least €100 million per annum on combatting HIV-AIDS and other communicable diseases in the developing world. AIDS is devastating the continent of Africa where an entire generation has been practically wiped out, and resources must be concentrated on combatting this disease.

Irish Aid information and volunteering centres will be established in Cork and Galway, in addition to the existing centre in Dublin. It was agreed that funding mechanisms for non-governmental organisations would be accessible and simplified. It was also agreed, as recommended in the White Paper on Irish Aid in 2006, that action on the findings of the hunger task force would be prioritised.

The programme for Government has agreed to support the fight against corruption. Some speakers mentioned that the Minister of State did not refer to corruption in his contribution. It is, however, definitely in the programme for Government that our aid programme will support the fight against corruption in developing countries by supporting institutions, NGOs and civil society to promote good governance and strive to ensure our development assistance continues to reach the poor. The programme for Government also makes a commitment to ensure that the sourcing of fair trade goods will, where possible, be part of all Departments' purchasing and spending programmes.

I wish to touch on a couple of issues relating to our development aid programme, some of which were raised by other speakers. One issue is climate change. I ask the Minister of State to ensure all our development aid programme is proofed in regard to climate change. The developed world is becoming more aware that the developing world is experiencing the most marked and incontrovertible effects of the phenomenon of climate change due to raising sea levels and flooding. We have also seen food shortages. The emphasis on growing crops for bio-fuels has altered the international grain market which can be implicated in the creation of very serious food shortages in developing countries.

The EU reform treaty proposes the establishment of an EU-wide humanitarian aid corps which will very much see its responsibility as intervening in parts of the developing world where droughts, floods and food shortages occur. My colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, is very keen to see us set up a world class carbon off-setting programme and to ensure the money we pay to off-set our carbon emissions is directed to supporting innovative and poverty reduction projects in the developing world.

The issue of corruption was mentioned. There are steps we can take. We must proof our development aid budget and programme against corruption. Nine of the developing countries to which we direct much of our development aid have among the lowest scores on an international corruption index. Some of the measures we can take were mentioned by other speakers. We can ratify the UN Convention against Corruption. Signing up to that framework would be a very visible and definite statement Ireland could make. We can also improve the financial management systems we require to be put in place in countries receiving our development aid. We can work through governments where we can but where there are serious concerns and evidence that there is endemic corruption, we can work through other structures such as churches, private individuals such as Niall Mellon and his trust, and NGOs. We can increase our support to civil society organisations in developing countries because they work at a grassroots level and in a bottom up way to tackle the culture of corruption which is so endemic in some of these countries.

I wish to touch on the issue of trade. As other speakers mentioned, we must ensure that what we give with one hand in our aid budget, we do not take away with the other hand with unfair trade rules and trade regimes to which we sign up. Much of the negotiation in terms of international trade rules from which Ireland and other developed countries benefit are agreed within the World Trade Organisation. Ireland is represented at it and much of the negotiation is done by the EU Commission on behalf of the member states, Ireland being one. We must ensure the trade rules agreed are fair to developing countries. There has been a lack of balance and many of the trade rules have been rigged in favour of the developed world and rich countries which already have very established markets.

I highlight, in particular, the European partnership agreements about which many of the development NGOs in Ireland have been shouting loudly and lobbying. I am sure the Minister of State has been lobbied on this issue. These are agreements that have been reached with many developing countries which ensure quick and what developing countries call "unfair market access" by developed countries to the markets in developing countries. They ensure developing countries cannot protect themselves by keeping perhaps local employment conditions or landownership conditions in place. We need to be very careful we do not preach the importance of helping, developing and extending aid to developing countries while allowing the European Commission to negotiate, on our behalf, programmes like this and trade agreements with developing world countries which are in a weaker negotiating position and which will, ultimately, not be in their interests and which will promote our own market interests and those of the European Union generally.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an tAire Stáit agus gabhaim buíochas den Chathaoirleach as an deis labhartha seo. I welcome the Minister of State and compliment him on his fine contribution. There is a broad consensus in the House on this issue. It is not only about morality, it is also about political action and goodwill. The issue of overseas aid is not perhaps in the lexicon of many people, which is unfortunate. However, the work Bob Geldof and U2 have done in highlighting overseas aid or debt relief has brought it to the attention of many, which is welcome.

When I was in college with Senator Wilson we studied liberation theology. There was a whole different dimension to the issues of Third World debt, overseas aid or foreign missionaries. Thankfully, we have changed the lexicon in regard to developing countries. We are talking about people who should be equal to us being helped to develop and progress.

There is a need for a debate on wealth redistribution throughout the world. Images of poverty, famine and HIV-AIDS, about which Senator de Búrca spoke, are beamed into our living rooms many times each year. Those images resonate with people for a limited time — usually until an advertisement campaign is over, which is unfortunate. The budget for Irish Aid will increase over the next six years, which is welcome.

Senator Daly referred to education. Perhaps twining schools is something at which we might look. Some of my students engaged in activities with students from other countries. It had a huge impact because it brought the issue of developing countries into the classroom, to the attention of the students and, more importantly, it galvanised them into action and into recognising that there are people in developing countries who do not have access to services which they have, including basic education, electricity, running water, hospitals and proper food, which Senator de Búrca mentioned. It is only when one hears a 15 year old read out a letter from a pen pal or from a library book, it hits home. We can educate a new generation of Irish people who can become leaders on the issues of developing countries, overseas aid and combatting world poverty. It is important we encourage young people.

I agree with Senator de Búrca on fair trade. My city of Cork is a fair trade city. I ask the Minister of State to encourage other local authorities to work in a proactive manner on the issue of fair trade. He might ask the Minister for Education and Science to make that issue a central part of a module of the CSPE programme. We should use the education system to encourage young people to re-evaluate their mindsets and to bring about change.

Some friends of mine who have worked as missionaries in Africa have told me Irish missionaries have played a central role in changing the quality of life of people on that continent without interfering with their culture or nature. As the Minister of State is aware, the World Bank recognises that the approach of Irish missionaries can serve as a model methodology to be adopted by other interests. I would like to salute the priests, nuns, brothers and lay people who have left this country to help people in other parts of the world. They have not done so in a patronising manner, but in a way that has helped African people to get in touch with how they can be better.

When I spoke yesterday to a gentleman who is in his 85th year, he said that having spent a 40-year period in Africa, he still misses it. We should recognise the work of an extraordinary man who has given a great deal of time to Africa. As he wants to see change there, he recognises the value of governmental input in the form of Irish Aid. I ask the Minister of State to examine the amount of money that is given to the Irish Missionary Resource Service, which has a membership of 85 missionary organisations. I understand the service's budget is approximately €16 million, although I am open to correction. Perhaps we can consider increasing that allocation, although I am not sure if the Minister of State plans to do so. Some of the ordained Irish missionaries who are starting to get old have spent many years working at grassroots level. They have put in place structures with the help of local people who understand the local culture. The Irish missionaries do not want to change the culture or lifestyle of the local people. Their work, which is assisted by the money allocated by the Government to missionary congregations, represents an Irish link with 60 of the poorest countries in the world. It is important that we recognise the value of Irish missionaries by increasing the budget of the Irish Missionary Resource Service and allowing them to continue the great work they are doing.

The Minister of State referred in his speech to non-governmental organisations. I agree with him that such organisations are often best placed to respond quickly when difficulties arise. Senator Alex White highlighted some staffing issues which need to be addressed. Staffing levels in Irish Aid need to be reviewed in light of the increase in Government spending on overseas aid. I ask the Minister of State and his Department to examine the matter.

A number of Senators addressed the issue of corruption, which seems to be a problem. Transparency International, which monitors corruption levels throughout the world, has ranked Ethiopia as the 92nd most corrupt country of the 113 countries it analysed. Serious corruption issues are also found in Mozambique. As Ireland is delivering aid in both of the countries I have mentioned, we need to take seriously the issue of corruption. As other Senators have said, our allocation of moneys to corrupt regimes seems to fly in the face of the good efforts we are making in the Third World. I ask the Minister of State to examine the possibility of more closely linking the provision of funds to the issue of good governance. Will he consider providing funds through bodies with a proven track record, such as GOAL and the Niall Mellon Township Trust? Will he examine the issues of transparency which are particularly relevant in corrupt nations? Will he clarify the commitments to which he was referring in his speech when he said "we are half way to the 2015 target date"? The assumption I have made in that regard might be wrong. I hope he is not trying to renege on any commitments.

The contribution made by the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Kitt, in the House today was comprehensive and, as Senator Alex White said, not political in any way. It behoves all of us to adopt a consensus approach to the issues of developing countries and overseas aid. The Minister of State will not have any difficulty in working with Senators on this side of the House as long as we see action in certain areas.

Fiona O'Malley (Progressive Democrats)
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I would like to share my time with Senator Feeney.

Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Fiona O'Malley (Progressive Democrats)
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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.

Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator O'Malley for sharing her time with me. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Kitt, to the House. I do so with a big smile because he was a colleague of some of us in the previous Seanad. He was a lovely colleague and we miss him greatly but we are pleased for him as he has gone back to the Lower House.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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I am sure he watches the "Late Late Show".

Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)
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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.

Dominic Hannigan (Labour)
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I wish to speak on the proposed development co-operation Bill and the economic partnership agreements which were raised earlier. In 2005, my party proposed the development co-operation Bill to enable the annual commitment of 0.7% of gross domestic product to development aid. The UN millennium development goals which rely on development aid would have seen action in areas such as the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, better educational systems, the reduction of child and maternal mortality, the combatting of HIV-AIDS and support for environmental sustainability. These goals are far from being realised, because of the 192 members of the UN who signed up to the promise to provide 0.7% of GDP, only five states to date have reached or surpassed that target. Those states are, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, with Sweden giving 1.03% of GDP to development aid, a sum which is 50% higher per capita compared with Ireland's contribution. There is a long way to go and our level of contribution must be increased.

It is almost eight years since the Taoiseach made the solemn commitment to reach the figure of 0.7% of GDP. He pledged it would be achieved by this year, not by 2012, but this pledge seems to have been long abandoned. The way things are going it may be some time before this figure is reached and it may not be by 2012 but at a later date. We do not know whether the economic situation will be used as an excuse to delay the commitment further.

The proposed Labour Party Bill would have established a legally binding contribution of 0.7% of GDP with the money being deposited in a development fund quarterly, thus removing the Department of Finance from the equation and ensuring the money was used for development aid. However, our Bill was voted down by the Government.

The State must honour its commitment and work with local partners on the ground in developing countries to make sure the aid provided reaches the people who need it most. The Government must work closely with the Council of Ministers to ensure transparency in how the aid is spent. Senators Norris and Buttimer and other Senators on the Government benches referred to a lack of transparency. It must be ensured improvements in human rights are secured in return, as Senator O'Malley stated. We need to stand firmly for the establishment of a UN rapid response unit to tackle natural and human disasters.

I refer to economic partnership agreements. It must be ensured what is given in development aid on the one hand is not taken away because of the requirements made of developing countries on the other. The European Union has responsibility for maintaining trade with 78 former colonies, of which 42 African, Caribbean and Pacific nations are in the developing world. In 2001 Ireland asked that these colonies remove 80% of their trade restrictions with Europe. One of the impacts of that change was a worsening of their economic positions. For instance, water privatisation has led to local hardship in a number of these countries. It is vital that while, on the one hand, Ireland provides development aid, it does not, on the other, restrict the ability of those countries to expand their economies by imposing restrictions on the way they trade. Trade agreements must favour developing nations and nothing the Government does on trade agreements should undermine development aid. Ireland has been always known as a generous nation and it is important that the State honours its 0.7% of GDP commitment for development aid. I urge the Government to meet this sooner rather than later.

John Carty (Fianna Fail)
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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.

Joe O'Toole (Independent)
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I wish to share my time with Senator Ross.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Joe O'Toole (Independent)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Kitt, to the House and wish him well in his ministerial job. It is great to have him back in this House and I am sure he prefers to be sitting in the seat he is in rather than the one he was in when he was a Member of this House.

I wish to use this opportunity to refer to some foreign policy issues rather than focus directly on overseas development aid. I wish to refer specifically to the position of Iran. Senator Daly, who is present, met, as I did on a number of occasions, some representatives of the Iranian opposition recently. It is important to initiate a debate on what is happening in Iran. It is the forgotten state. We see the images of Iran broadcast on television but we do not realise what is happening behind those scenes. As with the Solidarnosc in Poland, we do not realise that there is also a democratic opposition in Iran which is not getting the opportunity to operate, function, spread its message and gain acceptance in the West.

My premise for raising what is happening in Iran is that we are dealing in a kid glove manner with Iran. I would like to record what is happening there, and we have talked about other countries previously. Iran is a state that supports terrorism. That is a reality and there is plenty of evidence to prove that. Iran has a list as long as my arm of abuses of human rights. This is well recognised and documented. I have seen photographs of the evidence of this and the lists of the people concerned. There is not the slightest doubt about that. Iran has been interfering most negatively and in a most mischievous fashion in the attempts to bring stability to Iraq. As we all know, Iran is pursuing nuclear weaponry.

The reason I raise this matter and ask the Minister of State to bring it to the attention of the Department is that the debate on this issue in the West is being presented as one of how do we deal with Iran. There seem to be two alternatives. One is that we appease the mullahs running the appalling regime there and the other, apparently, is military intervention — the disaster we saw happen next door in Iraq. We failed to have a timely discussion on Iraq. Many people wanted to have a debate, including Senator Ó Murchú, a dúirt a lán mar gheall ar an ábhar sin. Tá an rud céanna ag tarlú anois san Iaráin.

The reality is that it should be dealt with. Dealing with Iran is not a choice between appeasing the mullahs and military intervention, between war and appeasement. There is another way to deal with it, namely, there should be support for the pro-democratic, anti-fundamentalist opposition in or, I should say, to Iran, because opposition is not allowed to survive in that country. Those in opposition tend to be outside Iran around the world in various places putting forward their message.

If my contribution leaves the Minister of State with no other message than this one, I ask him to note it. The two groups which are doing this are the People's Mujahedin of Iran, the name of which will immediately put people's backs up because it sounds like a terrorist organisation, which it is anything but. It is a tolerant, progressive, democratic organisation that is opposed to terrorism, the regime of the mullahs and the current President of Iran. The other organisation is the National Council of Resistance of Iran. The leader of that group is a woman called Maryam Rajavi who had a huge meeting in Paris this year attended by tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of Iranians from all over Europe and who has addressed various conferences in different parts of Europe.

The point I wish to make is that I give the House my word that these two groups, the People's Mujahedin of Iran and the National Council of Resistance of Iran, are tolerant, progressive and democratic. They are both proscribed organisations, are called terrorist organisations and are prevented from spreading their message. In doing this, we are giving sustenance to the fundamentalist, anti-democratic, oppressive and abusive regime that is in Iran.

I ask the Minister of State to look upon the opposition to Iran, reflected in the People's Mujahedin of Iran and the National Council of Resistance of Iran, as pro-democratic, supportive organisations doing the same work in the Middle East as Solidarnosc did in Poland 20 years ago. They deserve our support. We should be looking at Iran in terms of imposing sanctions on it until it begins to go the route of upholding human rights. There is no reason the same thing cannot happen in the Middle East as happened in eastern Europe. We need to have that optimistic view. We are talking about Persia, which dates back to the foundation of civilisation. Its people understand democracy and they need support. I ask the Minister of State to use his good offices to try to ensure Ireland takes an international view of having these two groups de-proscribed by the UN and by other international organisations.

Shane Ross (Independent)
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I wish to speak fairly favourably about the Government's overseas development aid programme. I pay tribute to various people who contributed so strongly towards it. While I welcome the Minister of State's arrival to this House, it is only appropriate to pay tribute to his predecessor who did so much and committed so much of his time and idealism towards the goal of Irish aid increasing towards a much higher percentage of gross national product. I am proud of the fact that we are approaching the 0.7% level to which we have aspired for so long. The previous Minister of State should get great credit for that. The fact that we are giving €800 million per annum towards Third World aid is particularly commendable.

It is somewhat depressing that there was no reference in the Minister of State's speech to the real criteria being used by the Government to distribute aid. He said that the aid is for the relief of poverty and it is concentrated on sub-Saharan Africa, but I would like to know the criteria being used beyond that, beyond the relief of poverty, and what types of regimes the Government is prepared to support and what types it is not. In other words, what criteria for the administration of democracy are being used? It is easy enough to give money towards the relief of poverty but it is very important that the money goes into the right hands.

In saying that, it is right to pay great tribute to certain organisations which in the past have been champions not only of the relief of poverty but also of the fact that Irish money goes into the hands of those who are committed to democracy. I do not believe it has been mentioned but I believe it is appropriate to pay tribute to John O'Shea of GOAL. One of the great virtues of GOAL and John O'Shea was that he pointed out, to the great embarrassment of successive Governments, that money may be going towards the relief of poverty but it was going through the hands of tyrants at the time and that it was not getting into the hands of those whom we wished it to get to. That may have been difficult for Governments at the time but it served an enormous purpose.

I ask, especially in regard to sub-Saharan Africa, about which we are talking, that the Government carefully examines the giving of aid to countries such as Uganda, about which GOAL pointed out that the emperor had no clothes, in other words, that the tyrant who ran Uganda was not fully committed to democracy or that the money was not going to the right place. It is appropriate we continue to ensure the money that is going to Zimbabwe via the United Nations does not find itself in the hands of the tyrannical regime of Robert Mugabe. I know it is very difficult to draw that particular dividing line in determining whether this money is to go towards the relief of poverty or to the person in charge. Nonetheless it is a definitive line which the Government should look at very carefully. By holding the money back, one may well be contributing to the increase of poverty or making lives more miserable. On the other hand, keeping the money going may, in effect, perpetuate the regime of those ruling in that particular country, even by going through the United Nations.

It is also very appropriate to pay tribute, as several Senators have done, to those Irish missionaries in particular who have done so much for the relief of poverty and the promotion of education. It is immensely fashionable these days to knock the Roman Catholic Church for reasons which are often peripheral to its main activities. It is only fair to say that its representatives have done immense humane work. I think of the Philippines, Africa and the whole world, not least in the area of education, which the Minister of State mentioned in his speech. It would be wrong not to pay tribute to those people who have contributed from that particular area. Trócaire, too, should be mentioned in passing as it is after all a Catholic Church-inspired organisation.

I ask the Minister of State in his reply perhaps to speak somewhat more about the measures he is taking to ensure corrupt regimes do not receive Irish aid. I ask him to clarify whether he is certain, even if the aid is going through the United Nations, it is not contributing to sustaining corrupt regimes and that it is going to the right people and the relief of the poverty he so rightly wants to tackle. It would be churlish and wrong not to say we are proud of the record of this country now in its contribution to the Third World. It should, however, be remembered that Third World countries are not always ruled by governments which have the interests of their people at heart.

Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)
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I dtosach, cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, Deputy Michael Kitt. Tá an-áthas orm go bhfuil seans againn arís an t-ábhar seo a phlé. Bíonn seans againn gach bliain é a dhéanamh agus cuireann sé an-áthas orm na rudaí bunúsacha a mbíonn le rá ag muintir an tSeanaid anseo. Tá sé soiléir freisin go bhfuil an-aontas eadrainn maidir leis an gcás atá á phlé againn anseo inniu.

The mere fact that we are discussing overseas development in the Seanad is a measure of our compassion as a country and an appreciation of how lucky we are to be in a position to aid countries less fortunate than ours. Indeed, we have a distinguished record when it comes to sharing the goods of this life, which we are fortunate to have, with other countries. It is part of our history because when we look back on Irish history, we see the many challenges we faced and how lucky we were to have people abroad who came to our aid. To this day they have become part of our folklore, right down to the American Indians who, despite not having much wealth, were still prepared to make a contribution to help save us from the pit of deprivation in which we found ourselves at one time. This shows that such initiatives are not forgotten after one year, and the same is true of Ireland.

When one travels to any of those countries which have emerged from that background and are now much more stable and successful and talk to any of their citizens, Ireland, too, is part of their folklore. The always recall, looking back on history, how we came to their aid when they needed it most. Irish compassion and charity, however, does not start with the formalisation of overseas aid and has, in fact, existed for many centuries. One of the reasons is that we were always motivated by our religious beliefs. It was an inherent tenet of Christianity that one should help one's neighbour whether he or she was next door or in some other part of the world. As a result, those in the front line of the church were prepared to travel abroad, sometimes in the most difficult of situations. The more I read about it the more I realise what great heroes and heroines we had. I was recently reading a book about the religious orders that went to China in the 1950s and 1960s and the conditions under which they lived as well as the brutality they experienced. The author, who was a priest, said that if there was no God, then we had all been rightly fooled.

When one reflects on the strength of character those people had, it is no wonder that we have inherited that same type of philosophy and I am glad that is the case. Obviously many of the disaster areas of the world have different bases from which the countries concerned find themselves in such a position. It is not always down to the forces of nature or an act of God. Very often it is a case of political greed involving people who want to take power, as well as all the excesses of violence and terrorism which derive from this. Senator Ross has touched on this issue, namely, one of the challenges we face when we try to provide aid in a county is to be quite sure that it is getting into the right hands and will be used in the most productive way possible. The Irish Government has done an excellent job in that regard. I recall saying this to the Minister of State's brother when he was in the Seanad in a previous incarnation. The efforts which are made and the courage displayed, as well as the independence of thought underpinning it, cannot be matched, I believe, by any country in the world, even with bigger administrative structures and back-up. I am quite happy that a very strong and definite effort is being made in that regard.

When one looks back at the United Nations Millennium Declaration it is quite evident that its framers directed their thoughts in the right direction. Obviously one of them was to health, to get rid of HIV-AIDS. The most shocking thing, when one thinks about it, is the fact that medicines are available which could help the unfortunate victims. Since they are patented, however, and in the hands of the large conglomerates, they will not be made available at a reasonable cost. They could be made available at perhaps 2% or 3% of the cost if the will was there to do it.

The €815 million we spend is a good sum and we are heading in the right direction towards achieving the targeted 0.7% of gross national product by 2012. Politically as well, however, we can help with overseas development by going after those people and embarrassing them specifically into releasing their hold on these particular medicines, even if only for a short term, for those parts of the world that need them so much.

Senator O'Toole set the right tone in a broader way in his contribution. He made the point that I have made so often about other war-torn areas. Very often we do not practise diplomacy or behave in a manner that would impress a nation. We wait until there are extreme circumstances and then behave in a gung ho manner in the belief we can force people to accept our position. I am certain that military oppression never works in the long run, nor does trying to starve a people into submission. When we talk of sanctions or designations in respect of various groups, we should be very careful that those on the receiving end are not the most vulnerable. Just as a charity's actions become folklore, the vulnerable and their succeeding generations will remember what we did to them at the very time they needed help most.

It is a question of raising morale. There are more than 950 million people worldwide in abject poverty and all go to bed hungry. We in Ireland do not know what this means and I am sure many of our consciences are stirred at times when we are throwing out excess food and food that is no longer within date. I am sure our consciences are stirred when we realise the people in areas where hunger is widespread could have had access to the food we throw in our bins.

Rather than spending billions of euro or dollars on war, would it not be much better if leaders came forward to say that enough is enough? Humanity must be our driving force in life. Very often one leader has proven he can change the world. Had the leaders of the United Nations and European Union allowed humanity to prevail and obviated the need to spend money as a result of our not respecting other people's opinions and the failure to practise diplomacy, with all its strengths, it is quite possible they could have changed the world such that there would not be millions dying of AIDS and hunger every year. In saying this, I am not referring solely to the UN millennium development goals.

I compliment the Minister of State and the Government because I genuinely believe we still provide moral leadership. Irrespective of the size of our nation, it is still a great moral force in the world, just as the people who went before us down through the centuries were a great moral force. I wish the Government the very best of luck in the work it is doing.

Dan Boyle (Green Party)
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I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate and do not intend to repeat much of what has been said. The Minister of State has been gracious enough to oversee a debate that has proceeded for several hours.

We can have great pride in the Irish aid programme. The many debates we had in the past on our failure to donate 0.7% of gross national product by 2007 are over and there is now a commitment to meet the target by 2012. Not only is this firmly enshrined in the programme for Government, the Government has outlined how it is reaching its annual targets. The manner in which the Government intends to reach its targets in the coming years will be set out in the annual Budget Statement and this represents a further commitment to the concept of Irish aid.

We can all have pride in the fact that Irish aid is given on a different basis to that given by many other donor countries. It is given without conditionality, which means we do not expect a payback in terms of trade advantage or the pursuit of particular political goals by the recipients. It is in this regard that I must refer to an area outside the brief of the Minister of State but which has had an impact on our general aid programme and requires him to try to influence Government policy in general.

I refer in particular to a case in which the Minister for Finance has a role to play in the allocation of a small amount of development aid. The International Development Association, an offshoot of the World Bank that manages a fund that assists development projects throughout the world, held a meeting in Dublin yesterday. An unfortunate aspect of the current replenishment round, the Mozambique round, is that it is being suggested that terms and conditions should attach to how the moneys will be allocated. Given the general Irish policy on development aid and our proud record regarding the distribution of aid heretofore, it would be very disappointing if we gave money, albeit a small sum, to an international programme run in a manner at variance with our own.

Yesterday's meeting was part of a series that began in Paris and continued in Mozambique. The meetings will conclude in Berlin in some months. It is hoped, on foot of the meeting in Dublin, that the Irish Government will make a clear statement that the proposal on replenishment is not in accord with what Ireland would do with its own development aid budget. I ask the Minister of State to use his influence on the Minister for Finance to this effect as the latter has direct responsibility for deciding how much is allocated to the International Development Association. If agreement cannot be reached in the short term, will he ensure we contribute the minimum membership fee until we secure the support of others in the association and the World Bank in general for not attaching terms and conditions to our development aid?

There is an obvious role for Ireland in this regard given the amount of aid we donate, the productive uses to which we put it and the great respect accorded to Irish development aid workers working directly with Irish Aid or non-governmental organisations. On foot of its international reputation, the State should ensure that international organisations such as the International Development Association allocate aid on the right basis and that it will help to bring about the desired changes.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank all the Senators who took part in this very good debate. Overseas aid represents an increasingly significant part of our foreign policy and it is important our approach to development be debated in the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Over the past year, Irish Aid has made considerable progress in implementing the recommendations of the White Paper and the Government has put in place measures to enhance the response of Ireland and the international community to humanitarian disasters. We established an interdepartmental committee to strengthen coherence in the Government's approach to development related issues. The hunger task force comprises national and international experts and examines ways in which Ireland can best contribute to international efforts to reduce famine and hunger. The next meeting of the task force will take place in Cork next Friday.

Preparations are in train for one of the world's poorest countries, Malawi, to become the ninth bilateral recipient of Irish aid. In the new year, we will be opening a volunteering and information centre on O'Connell Street, designed to raise awareness of the development challenges facing the international community. Ireland's response to these challenges and opportunities for Irish people to get involved directly at home and abroad are very important. I encourage Senators to let their constituencies know about the opening of the centre in 2008.

Irish Aid is available to supply information on visits to the centre, and an outreach campaign to school, youth and community groups is under way. As part of this campaign, I have written to transition year co-ordinators throughout the country to encourage them to bring their students to the centre.

I will reply to a few points that have been raised. I thank Senator Cummins for his comments on the hunger task force. He asked about a twinning project between Waterford and a South African township and whether this project will get funding. The answer is "Yes". There is a civil society fund which gives grants to projects such as this and I can give the Senator information on how to apply for the fund.

I also agree with Senator Daly about the question of working with partner countries. As he noted, they have the main responsibility for their development and we will continue to work closely with governments in a spirit of true partnership. I also agree with him about the role of private individuals and what they can do to help countries. I applaud those Irish benefactors who have given generously. The Niall Mellon Township Trust was mentioned. We are all impressed by Niall Mellon's initiative in building houses for poor people in South Africa. A request has been made to Irish Aid for significant funding which is being examined. I expect this proposal to be considered favourably. I said last week that we could do with many more Niall Mellons to help out in poorer countries.

The question of corruption has been raised. All spending by Irish Aid is heavily monitored by independent auditors and internal evaluation. I certainly agree that corruption is a significant problem. Senator Norris raised this point. The issue is dealt with fully in the White Paper and I would like Senators to read what it says. We must work with governments because they are uniquely placed to help their people and fight corruption. Indeed, many countries in Africa are fighting hard against corruption and we should not belittle their efforts. The Irish Aid programme works hard to strengthen institutions such as parliamentary committees, audit bodies and civil society groups which can raise the necessary queries about government spending and fighting corruption.

Senator Bacik raised the question of disability in Irish Aid. I certainly would be happy to look at greater ways of tackling disability. This is an area where we could do more, although we support organisations such as Sight Savers, and I am glad that we gave substantial support to organisations such as the United Nations Population Fund and UNIFEM.

Senator Mullen spoke about the cost of corruption to countries. I agree with him that there is a balance between funding to governments, non-governmental organisations, missionaries and the United Nations. The issue of governance is very important, as he pointed out.

The question of trade is very important and is as important as aid. Senator Ormonde raised this issue and I agree with the point she made. We support trade links and very much applaud the work of ambassadors and our embassies where they are involved in helping investment.

In respect of the Volunteering and Information Centre, in the programme for Government we envisaged further information centres in Cork and Galway. I certainly will pursue this.

Senator Alex White raised the issue of staffing. We are having a management review which is examining the question of resources and staffing in Irish Aid. This review includes Limerick.

Senator Alex White and Senator de Búrca raised the question of supporting freedom of trade. We know that trade can work against poor countries and very much support poor countries in our discussions in Brussels with development ministers. We are meeting there again next week to discuss the economic partnership agreements with the ACP countries. We have stressed that these agreements should benefit rather than penalise the poorer countries.

In respect of legislating for 0.7% of gross domestic product, my chief target is to continue the strong upward trend in funding. The only comment I will make about legislation is that the practice of ring-fencing any one area of expenditure will obviously have implications for the budget as a whole. Therefore, it must be very carefully thought out. All I can say is that it is 0.5% at the moment and that we are working towards 0.6% of GDP by 2010 and 0.7% by 2012.

Senator de Búrca raised the question of climate change. Environment is one of the four cross-cutting issues in the aid programme. I agree fully that we need to place greater emphasis on climate change. My Department will support the work of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and participate actively at conferences such as the forthcoming one in Bali.

Senator Buttimer asked me to encourage more Fairtrade centres, cities and towns, which I would certainly like to do. I saw a very good display of products in Dublin Castle recently. Senator Buttimer and other Senators from Cork will be glad to know that Kinsale did very well in respect of Fairtrade towns. Senator Buttimer also mentioned missionaries and the great work of the Irish Missionary Resource Service. I am favourably disposed to increasing the budget for this service next year and am fighting to bring this about.

Senator Ross raised the question of United Nations aid for Zimbabwe. I can tell the Senator that Ireland has stopped all assistance to Zimbabwe because of the situation there. Obviously, we are giving money to religious orders to assist HIV-AIDS patients and are supporting John O'Shea and GOAL, which is a partner of the Irish Aid multi-annual programme scheme. We will shortly announce a new multi-annual agreement providing substantial funding for GOAL. I support the Senator's comments about missionaries and NGOs.

I commend Senator O'Malley on the work in which she is engaged in respect of violence against women in developing countries. Senator Feeney mentioned Lesotho, which was our first programme country and a country in which I monitored elections in 1993. Very good work has been done there and I welcome what Senator Hannigan said about development co-operation.

I agree with Senator Carty's comments about the Westport Aror (Kenya) Partnership. I attended the 25th anniversary of that partnership last Sunday. It is a very good partnership that could be taken on board by other towns throughout Ireland in the same way as has been done in Waterford, as Senator Cummins said. I hope that through the micro project funding, we can assist such projects.

In respect of Iran, I note the points made by Senator O'Toole. The Senator knows my own interest in Iraq. I have spoken about Iraq in this House and visited the country in early 2003. I will bring his points to the attention of the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Senator Ó Murchú spoke about essential drugs and medicines being made available at less expensive rates than we see in this country. The William J. Clinton Foundation has been of great help in doing that. I support Senator Ó Murchú's comments about the moral leadership that countries such as Ireland should give.

I agree with Senator Boyle that Ireland's aid is not tied to particular conditions. I will certainly take on board the question he raised about the International Development Association and bring these points to the attention of the Minister for Finance.

Community and Oireachtas support will be vital for Irish Aid programmes, especially as the level of aid reaches the United Nations target of 0.7% of GDP. I am grateful to the Oireachtas for the role it plays in highlighting development issues and encouraging greater interest. I encourage Senators to consider visiting Irish Aid's programme countries to see for themselves the progress being made. These visits raise awareness of the work of Irish Aid and our partners in development, including Irish NGOs and missionaries. A debate such as this highlights the challenges faced by the developing world and Ireland's contribution to the international response. Irish people can be proud of the contribution made by Irish Aid to tackling world poverty. I thank Senators for their contributions.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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When is it proposed to sit again?

Dan Boyle (Green Party)
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At 10:30 a.m. tomorrow.