Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As with others, I welcome the policy paper and the consultation process, in addition to the fact that the Minister of State said he would not only like to hear the views of this committee's members but also the views of others. He is still open to submissions.

Let me concentrate on my concerns about the paper in order to be supportive and helpful. With regard to hunger, the Government's policy focuses on what needs to change in developing countries but does little to acknowledge the many areas where change needs to happen in richer countries, as in respect of climate change, over-consumption and food wastage, for example. The policy paper does not focus enough on the major drivers of hunger around the world. Two pertinent issues are land grabbing and bio-fuels. An Oxfam survey implies that 58% of global land acquisitions in recent years are for bio-fuel production. Its research concludes that land used to produce bio-fuels for the European Union alone in 2008 could have been used to produce wheat and maize that could have fed 127 million people in that year. This, in itself, is telling. One fifth of the land in Senegal, Syria, Sierra Leone, one third of that in Liberia and over half of that in Cambodia has been acquired by companies. It is no coincidence that this is happening at the same time as impoverishment and hunger among millions around the world. The countries in question are producing the bio-fuels to fuel cars and maintain certain lifestyles while others starve. The document should focus much more on this. I am conscious that Irish people are aware of the Great Irish Famine and hunger. It will be positive if we move in this regard.

The policy document states Irish Aid spends 20% of its money on targeting hunger. What qualifies as hunger expenditure? Reference is made to building confidence but if people knew exactly where the money was spent, it would be useful. Just as people talk about investing in the local hospital, for example, they need to know exactly where the aid money is going. How does Irish Aid define and calculate hunger expenditure?

A previous submission referred to aid being motivated by economic and trading interests. This raises concerns, including among many NGOs. Untied aid has always been an issue in Ireland. There is now concern that there will be changes in this regard owing to the shift of focus to trade. Comhlámh and various NGOs have raised this, particularly in respect of the African strategy. While there should be emphasis on promoting companies and trade, it ought to be separated from aid; it cannot just be a driver on its own. Although reference is made to confidence, the Irish are concerned about poverty and inequality around the world and want to see aid going to the affected regions. Trade is helpful to Ireland but it should not be the main point of focus. This view was expressed by many but it does not seem to be reflected in the new policy document. Why has it not been included?

Sierra Leone has been included as the new key partner. I welcome the selection but note that East Timor has been dropped as a key partner. I do not know why. What criteria were used to select Sierra Leone as a new key partner and to drop East Timor?

The Minister of State talked about the post-2015 development framework. The European Union should be leading by suggesting what richer countries should be doing to change their economic, trade and financial practices. There was never much focus on this kind of development. Perhaps the Irish Government should do so. It is necessary to focus on income inequality. I asked earlier about what was happening in Brazil, one of the world's economic drivers. In regard to Brazil, the questions of inequality, poverty and slums arise. The Minister of State can understand why people are rising up in that country. Such uprisings, including the Arab spring, are the result of discrimination, inequality and people's aspirations not being met. We need to respond to that.