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

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Costello. I apologise for being late; it was the traffic.

I agree with the comments of previous speakers on the European Development Fund. It is managed by the unelected European Commission and the European Investment Bank, and the European Parliament has a limited role in scrutinising it, which I have been told is improving. I am interested in hearing the response to Deputy Smith's questions.

There is a view that the aid programme of some donor countries would be based on self-interest and geopolitical strategies. Irish Aid has a proud history of untied aid. We are coming from a background of being colonised rather than being a coloniser, and have a strong solidarity with these countries. That is viewed by many of the recipient countries as a major positive. I would not like to see Irish Aid money being compromised in any way. There are concerns about where the investments are made. The African, Caribbean and Pacific, ACP, group of states are rich in natural resources. The European Investment Bank must consider which projects contribute to the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and inclusive economic growth when deciding on developing the extractive industry sector.

Would the Minister of State agree that when the EU is doing trade deals with developing countries, it needs to ensure it supports them to diversify their economies, reduce their dependence on the export of raw materials and increase the value of their products through domestic manufacturing and processing? There is the issue of multinational companies going into developing countries and stripping them of their resources, which is of no real benefit for the people in these countries. We have seen what has happened with the oil industry and that the benefits of the natural resource have not trickled down and benefited the people of the region. When the EU is involved, I would like to see it help develop the economy for the greater good of the people in the region and not just for the select few.

When the EU enters into trade agreements with other countries, we are concerned that these agreements would be used to maximise human rights. We have had favourable trade agreements with Colombia, Israel and other countries. It is important that we have specific political and legal mechanisms to suspend bilateral co-operation when there is repeated systematic human rights violations. I have mentioned two countries but I do not think it is acceptable that the EU gives favourable status to countries that are going backwards instead of going forward. It is important that the EU creates legislative proposals in the area of automatic disclosure of transnational corporations' profits and tax payments in an effort to tackle the issue of tax havens. Ireland was accused of being a tax haven for US companies. Tax evasion and illicit capital flight undermine bilateral and multilateral development aid. I think members would agree on the need for greater transparency and accountability of European companies operating in developing countries. Two possible options is to end the scandal of secret company ownership and fake companies by setting up open public registries, listing the real beneficial owners of company trusts and other structures, and making all companies report on their turnover profits and the tax of their employees in all countries in which they operate. This is one of the issues that has arisen in relation to aid and how these transnational companies are bypassing the tax laws. There is a need for the EU and other power blocks to make companies much more accountable.

I have a number of concerns about the European Development Fund's so-called African Peace Facility, which many are saying is being used to fund military actions in Somalia and other countries. We need to remove the military dimension from the EU.

I am happy to support the spending on development and the work that Ireland is doing, but we need to tweak the fund. Ireland needs to have a strong voice in ensuring there are changes in areas that need improvement. There must be greater involvement by the European Parliament. I am aware, however, of the proposed major changes in its powers. I think the Members of the European Parliament collectively would like to have a greater say and greater scrutiny in this area.