Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We have not received the final directive from the European Union. We negotiated the text and the substance of the directive during the Irish Presidency. As soon as the directive comes to us I assure the Deputy we will give it our immediate attention. We do not have a timescale but we hope it cannot be too much longer because the substance of the directive was negotiated by the end of June 2013, almost 12 months ago.

The OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises clarify how companies can identify and better manage risks, particularly with regard to the exploitation of natural resources in fragile countries. The United States has also produced similar legislation to this EU legislation. We need to have more stringent rules because there has been considerable exploitation of natural resources, including mineral, oil and forestry resources in Africa. There need to be stringent rules with regard to funding and also to how EU member states behave with regard to those countries.

Deputy Crowe asked about peacekeeping. The Africa Peace Facility is funded by the EU for peacekeeping and funding is not used for military projects or weapons. It is essential that the African countries are involved in providing the lion's share of peacekeeping troops and resources in the various fragile countries. I refer to appalling situations in south Sudan and the Central African Republic. Along with the situation in Syria, the United Nations has experienced a perfect storm because its entire peacekeeping resources are being taken up by these major conflicts. We are engaged with the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Deputy Byrne commented on the importance of the EU and said that the degree to which it is involved in providing global support for the poorest countries was another good reason for being a member state. The EU provides the lion's share - approximately 55% - of all international funding to the countries most in need of support.

On the question of the overseas development aid target of 0.7% of GNP, a number of targets have been set to achieve it. The target was set before my time as Minister of State. The Government set the same target in the programme for Government to be achieved by 2015. However, we are unable to meet that target because the economic circumstances have been very difficult in recent years. We have restated our position in the new policy programme, One World, One Future, and the target of 0.7% remains. We will achieve that target when economic circumstances permit. It is hoped that in the near future we will be in a position to change the direction of the curve in an upward direction towards that target as soon as possible. We are definitely committed to it. We are strong supporters of the 0.7% target. The definition of overseas development aid has been discussed many times at European level with our colleague member states and with the OECD with regard to whether the 0.7% should be discontinued or adjusted. In our view it is a statement of intent by member states. It is the EU target and also the United Nations target and it should not be changed. Only four or five member states have reached or exceeded the target, including the United Kingdom for the first time. It should remain untouched as a target because it is a statement of each country's intentions and we have argued for it to be maintained. In the past year, 16 member states have increased their contributions and 12 member states have decreased their contributions. It is not all bad news considering the difficult circumstances. Most member states are making serious efforts to move towards the target. Some of the newer member states are struggling with their economic situations and are not in a position to move very far up the scale on the targets, but the targets remain and it is a question of constantly seeking to have more member states improve their contributions or to reach or exceed the targets.

I thank the members for their questions and for the opportunity to make this presentation. I emphasise the importance of this fund of €30 billion and the difference it can make to those who are least well-off. I co-chaired the discussions on this matter during the Irish Presidency when the funding arrangement was drawn up. It was decided that we would move further towards helping the least developed countries, as opposed to the middle-income countries, even though certain middle-income countries have major internal problems. We have moved up the scale and well over 90% of the funding will go to the least developed countries, which will result in a further focus on countries in sub-Saharan Africa.