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

This is the seventh consecutive cut to the ODA budget. I understand the background to it, the economic crisis and so on. However, we have internationally committed to the target of 7% of GNI for ODA by 2015, and last year the Government acknowledged that it is unlikely to reach this. Are we working to a particular plan or is there a vacuum there? How does the Minister see us eventually reaching that target? The Irish Aid programme funding scheme has been cut by 2%. Regarding what Deputy Smith talked about, what criteria are being used for that? The NGO part of the Irish Aid programmes is the most poverty-focused and result-oriented part and there should be extra protection in times of budget reductions. Are the recommendations on where the cuts should be and in what areas the knife should fall?

On the multilateral funding, the ODA is spent through different sources. It is an important part of the aid package but one of the difficulties is that some of the work is being undermined by donors in other areas. The fight against inequality and poverty is about much more than aid. It is also about a whole-government approach. We raised this before regarding whether we will follow a human-rights approach in all our dealings with multilateral agencies and organisations. Will there be a whole-government approach to aid, trade, development and human rights in all the Government's affairs?

On the one hand we are pumping money into this area, for example Ireland gives €23.7 million to the European Development Fund, but at the same time the EU is pushing policies that are possible undermining human rights in some areas. It is pushing ahead with a free trade agreement with Colombia, one of the most dangerous places in the world. The EU's fisheries agreement with Morocco allows EU ships to plunder the fisheries wealth of the occupied territories of Western Sahara. We put aid in one area but our other policies undermine that. There needs to be a joined-up approach on that. How does the Minister see the Irish Government's role in that, particularly among those organisations to which we are committed? One could argue the same about the Palestinians. We are putting money in there, but at the same time a huge amount of their infrastructure is being destroyed by the so-called Israeli Defence Forces. We are doing positive work, but one hand is doing one thing and the other hand is doing the other. I do not know if the Minister shares that view, which is my view as an outsider looking in.