Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this programme, its continued success and everybody who contributed to it, the people and NGOs who are out in the field working in very difficult circumstances. Could the Minister of State and the Tánaiste elaborate on Syria, particularly on the humanitarian pledging conference that took place recently? The early indications were that the pledging was not up to the level expected or needed.

When the Department applies different reductions in expenditure to different programmes within the overall Irish aid programme, what are the criteria for making such decisions and a variation in the type of reduction to the different programmes? Has emergency aid been cut by more than 2% or has the education programme been cut by more than 2%? They are obviously of key and critical importance in trying to assist in the many challenges that face so many countries today.