Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The delegation is most welcome. I will kick-start my contribution by noting that when we review the figures for Mozambique, the amount it receives in aid is phenomenal. It is also phenomenal that our little island of 4 million people will this year alone provide €36 million. We do not want to shout about this too loudly because we are supposed to be in the depths of recession, the IMF has just left and people might be wondering why we are spending all of this money in Mozambique. Having said that, I am proud that we are using our development aid funds to target particular provinces in Mozambique. I would like the delegates to comment on the situation in some of them.

How does it feel to be running a country that has the world's highest growth rate? While there has been 7.5% growth for the past ten years and it is continuing at 7%, Mozambique is, however, listed as one of the world's poorest countries. Is there a contradiction in this regard? How can one have such massive growth and still be so low in the UN poverty statistics? It worries me that 80% of the population are engaged in agriculture, most of whom are probably engaged in subsistence farming. Does having 80% of the population engaged in agricultural production indicate, in the Foreign Minister's opinion, a weakness in the Mozambican economy? Is there a case to be made for attempting to diversify and industrialise the production of farm produce?

There was a Marxist or perhaps a Leninist phrase: "educate to be free". I am delighted that the Dublin Institute of Technology has done such a wonderful job. I actually get my glasses at the DIT and know that it has a lovely little shop and campus on Kevin Street. I am interested in education. Given its competitive nature and that Mozambique has a competing partner in South Africa which has probably the most advanced education system in Africa, what is Mozambique doing to increase education provision?

In welcoming the delegation I suggest we have a long way to go in our relationships. For example, I see that we only import €240,000 worth of goods from Mozambique. It is a huge country, but that is all we are buying from it, which might suggest some Irish aid should be provided on the trade side in terms of developing markets and so on. Moreover, we export just €2.7 million worth of goods to Mozambique. Overall, there is definitely plenty of room for improvement in the area of trade.

I will conclude by congratulating Mozambique on successfully coming out of a terrible civil war, having gained its independence in 1975. I ask the Foreign Minister to outline his view of the world in the light of the following perspective. Mozambique receives massive amounts of European aid. The European Union, among others, observed the 2009 elections which were not deemed to be very democratic. It is alleged that the European Union was very influential in compelling the Mozambican Government to change its electoral law. How do the Foreign Government colleagues feel about this? Do they see it as a threat or something positive that when the providers of aid do not like a particular aspect of Government, they pressurise Mozambique into changing it? I am happy for productive and progressive changes to happen, but from a political perspective, is there undue weight behind aid donors when they want Mozambique to correct its ways?