Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is an issue with the reducing allocation that Ireland gives to Irish Aid outside of our EU commitment. As our aid budget drops, our EU commitment remains static because we are tied in at 0.94%. Therefore, as a country, our discretionary spending is dropping. That is my concern. Deputy Durkan seemed to be implying that if we had written one entire cheque to the EU it would be fine, but I do not believe that is a good foreign policy for the country.