Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Mr. Cotter on looking so well after hiding out in Clare for the past year. I presume that only applies to him and that his two colleagues were hiding out elsewhere during the course of the championship.

The extent to which there is accountability for spending has become hugely important in this country and throughout the European Union. My colleague, Deputy Olivia Mitchell, mentioned aid for trade but we are not supposed to go there. To what extent do other European countries benefit or otherwise from trade with the counties to which the European Union donates aid? We are not supposed to go there but it might be no harm to inquire into that. It is not that I am, in any way, parochial but it is no harm to inquire occasionally.

Like, I am sure, all of my colleagues, I have experience, in the context of immigration issues, of dealing with the embassies of the some of the African countries which are beneficiaries and some of them are not very helpful to people who were their own people. I would like that to be borne in mind. From time to time, we have occasion to deal with these embassies which are perfunctory, to say the least, and, at worst, downright rude and uncaring towards their own people and unwilling to accept any kind of remonstration at all, so I would like that to be borne in mind.

I refer to aid for trade. There is a strong Chinese influence in African countries and there is a doubt about the extent to which they abhor aid for trade. I am anxious to know if we, as Europeans, are being treated equally.

Deputies Eric Byrne and Olivia Mitchell mentioned the substantial fund we contribute in quite difficult circumstances. The position here should be to look at the European Union's commitment to the European Development Fund, which is considerable. It is hugely important there is full accountability and a clear indication of good spending, good practice and efficacy in terms of distribution and administration and those for whom it is intended benefit directly. It would be one thing if the budget was small but it is a very large one of €30.5 billion and it can have a huge impact.

If it is administered badly it can have a negative impact not only on the economies of the donor countries but on public perception. Does the same standard of accountability apply to aid from the European Development Fund as to bilateral aid?

The third component of the European Development Fund framework is financial regulation. The regulation determines the detailed rules for the payment of the contributions from member states to the fund as established by the internal agreement. The text of the financial regulation has been negotiated by the Brussels-based African, Caribbean and Pacific working group and will be formally adopted once all the new members have been formally notified. Has everybody agreed to contribute? Does everybody agree that the contribution should be subject to scrutiny and accountability?

Other members have referred to the number of acronyms. One paragraph is full of acronyms, and while it may save ink, that is all it does. I believe in using the full description instead of referring to the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries as ACP, the annual action programmes as AAPs and the European Development Fund as the EDF. I would prefer that we revert to using the words in full. That is not a criticism of the presentation.

Some African countries are particularly vulnerable at present. When aid is being approved from the European Development Fund, is account taken of the country's Government and governance? The annual action programme were designed to reduce the vulnerability of 8.29 million chronically food-insecure people through conditional transfer of resources for labour-intensive public works and unconditional transfers in direct support of labour-poor households. I think a case can be made for co-financing in cases in which the country in question can afford to contribute. Some countries have a wealth of natural resources and cognisance should be taken of that when distributing aid. We should encourage countries that are able to make a contribution to do so in accordance with the incoming aid. That would be reassuring to the European Union. It would also give recipient countries an opportunity to identify the area in which aid is most appropriate.