Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Vice Chairman. I am pleased to be here today to present to the select committee the Revised Estimates for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for 2015. I trust that the committee will endorse the priorities and output targets we have set for ourselves for 2015. It is my first time I have had the pleasure of meeting the select committee to present the Revised Estimates for the Department. In my remarks, as the Vice Chairman said, I will focus on Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade, along with my colleagues, the Minister of State, Deputy Deenihan, who will deal with specific issues such as the diaspora and his responsibilities therein, and the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, who will address Vote 27 - International Co-operation.

I appreciate that, as the Vice Chairman said, a formal, lengthy introductory statement is not required, but I would like to confine myself to some initial comments outlining the situation facing the Department at this point, before introducing the various programmes as managed by my Department. As the committee will be aware, the overall gross current Estimate for 2015 is €681 million. This compares with an Estimate of €691 million in the previous year and represents a reduction of 1.45%. The allocation for spending on administration has decreased from €175 million to €171 million and I am satisfied that, despite the continuing tight budgetary situation, we can deliver on our targets for 2015.

A significant proportion of Vote 28 Estimates, some 19.2%, is made up of mandatory contributions to international organisations, including the United Nations. These figures are often very difficult to project for a number of reasons. First, the budgetary process involved requires us to make the estimate of costs well in advance of when payments are ultimately finalised. Second, in the case of UN peacekeeping missions, new and further missions can be added in response to emerging crises. Third, and perhaps most relevant at this point in time, is the current dollar-euro exchange rate. As the committee will appreciate, adverse currency movements have a dramatic impact on the final amount dispersed for large payments such as those made in dollars to the United Nations.

Notwithstanding those three points, my Department tracks all the relevant issues closely and I am fully focused on delivering the objectives for 2015 within the reduced budgetary allocation.

In the course of this year we will be continuing to build on Ireland's success in exiting the EU-IMF programme. My Department has been centrally involved - particularly through the agency of our diplomatic and consular network - in this achievement. The task of restoring our economic fortunes and recovering lost ground internationally is not yet complete and, as the committee will appreciate, there is no room for complacency in this regard. Export-led growth will be key to generating employment and sustainable growth at home. We readily accept the task of redoubling our efforts to support business internationally. I will outline later the steps we propose to take in terms of achieving our goal of sustainable economic growth into the future.

I am pleased to report that we achieved our priority targets for Vote 28 within budget and that savings will be returned to the Exchequer. Savings mainly arose on the opening of new missions and on the lower than expected costs of United Nations contributions.

In 2014 there was further conflict and division - which caused unprecedented humanitarian crises in the Middle East - but efforts to achieve progress in respect of the Middle East peace process and the deteriorating political situation in Ukraine are ongoing. Each of these matters will be a significant focus of the attention of the Department in the coming year. I intend to visit both the Middle East and Ukraine in the coming months. While in Poland yesterday, I had a brief opportunity to engage with President Poroshenko of Ukraine. A special meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council is due to take place in Brussels tomorrow.

Members will be aware that my departmental officials and I were centrally involved in the recent negotiations which led to the Stormont House Agreement on a way forward for Northern Ireland. As was noted when this matter was discussed in the House last week, the agreement represents a great opportunity to restore effective partnership government in Northern Ireland, advance genuine reconciliation between divided communities and progress economic prosperity for all.

International development will remain central to our foreign policy in 2015. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, whose role is crucial in this regard, will outline his position later. I wish to acknowledge the lead role the plays on behalf of Ireland in the context of the country's official development assistance. I am proud that Ireland has taken up the role of co-chairing the vital global development negotiations currently under way at the United Nations in New York. The challenge now will be to ensure we use this leadership role to enable the full membership of the United Nations to adopt a new set of global development goals in September, with the ambition of ending extreme poverty and hunger in the world by 2030. On a previous occasion I referred to the Representing the Global Island conference and the launch of the foreign policy review which accompanied it. The conference in question included a number of business round-table discussions in which Irish companies, State agencies and the heads of our diplomatic missions participated. These discussions focused on emerging markets, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

An underlying theme in the context of our contacts with the global Irish community is that if Ireland wishes to be successful, then we must continue to go out and engage with the world. We cannot afford the luxury of waiting for the world to come to us. In this regard, the very important work done by the Minister of State, Deputy Deenihan, in engaging with the diaspora across the globe ensures that we have an ongoing, positive and active engagement with Irish citizens abroad and the communities in which they currently live and play a key role.

The review of foreign policy offers a progressive and forward-looking vision of Ireland's place in the world and sets out key areas of focus for the Government's global engagement to help secure a peaceful and prosperous future for the Irish people. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the input in respect of and valuable contribution of this committee to the review. During the consultation exercise, we received detailed inputs from the Joint Committee on European Affairs and the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. The form and quality of the inputs received during the consultation process is testament to the depth of interest in Ireland's foreign policy. In the coming months I intend to bring forward a series of initiatives to advance further the goals set out in the review, with an initial evaluation of progress at the end of the year. Work on the review of the policy relating to the diaspora is ongoing. We will be discussing that matter later this afternoon.

In the context of the Revised Estimates for 2015 and the stated targets set out therein, the committee will note that in the coming 12 months the Department intends to sustain its efforts to promote Ireland's economic and trade interests, encourage the achievement of reconciliation and co-operation on this island, advance national priorities for international development, peace, security and human rights, provide passport and consular services to our citizens and continue engagement with and provide support for the Irish community abroad. I now propose to introduce each of the programmes under Vote 28 and provide a brief overview of our priorities in respect of each.