Ms Suzanne Keatinge:

I thank the Chairman for his opening remarks and setting the scene. I was reflecting that it was July last year when Dóchas last met with this committee and we discussed migration and refugees. That issue has not gone away. I share the Chairman's horror about the chemical attack in Syria. If ever there was a need for strong political leadership and collective action it is surely now, yet here we are, in the face of Brexit and all the rest, and some might say that we are getting further away from those collective political actions. We are also seeing the negative consequences in that regard. Later today, the committee will hear from our humanitarian colleagues in MSF, Oxfam and Concern, who will speak about the situation not just in the Middle East, but more broadly in South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, and north eastern Nigeria. Some 20 million people are at risk of famine, but it is important to get the message across that this is preventable. Many of the Irish NGOs are doing great work on that but the important point is that it is time for political action and for serious financial commitment. If we do that, it is preventable.

Against these pressing humanitarian needs, we also face the new political uncertainty created by Brexit, which is where we want to start our conversation today. It is important to say that in November 2016, Dóchas did a quick survey among our members, of whom 76% felt that Brexit would have a negative impact on our work. In fact, 42% of respondents were already experiencing that impact, much of it from the impact on currency conversions but also other aspects.

It is great to be here today and we welcome Ms Raphaëlle Faure from the UK's Overseas Development Institute, who will share some of her analysis and reflections. I was speaking to her earlier about what the mood was like in the UK and I am sure she will share that with the committee, but it is not all sunshine. We will also hear from Mr. Soley McCaughey from Christian Aid on tax justice issues and Vikki Brennan from Proudly Made in Africa.

What I hope the members will take away from this morning's session in terms of the Brexit conversation and the humanitarian aspects is that, first, there are many things at play. There is no doubt, particularly with Brexit, that it will be complicated, but I hope members will bear in mind that there is an important development perspective and that they bring that to the many discussions I am sure they will have in the coming months in the many areas in which they will be involved. Above all, it surely says that joined-up thinking and the need for policy coherence is as important as ever. Brexit cannot simply be about internal issues of trade, security and border controls. It cannot just be about managing migration and building walls; in fact, we would argue that it has to be about tearing down those walls. Ireland, along with many like-minded countries, has a leadership role to play. Similarly, I hope to illustrate the important role that civil society has to play in many of these debates through our members contributing today and also the many people in the Gallery.

Our role is to bring to members as decision makers the voices of the marginalised, the dispossessed and the poor as well as to provide the committee with the facts on the ground of what is likely to change after these major political shifts. I hope that this is the start of the conversation and that members will keep us in mind and engage in dialogue with us as the situation progresses in the coming years.

The issues before the committee speak to the need for Ireland to continue showing its strong leadership in international development and keep that at the core of foreign policy. We will support and encourage that. This will require championing critical issues, which Irish Aid and others are already doing, in poverty alleviation, gender equality and humanitarian best practice. We must step up to the plate in many other respects, though. It is not that long ago - the end of 2015 - that we celebrated three important multilateral agreements, those being, the sustainable development goals, SDGs, the Paris climate agreement and the Addis Ababa agreement on financing for development. How have we progressed these? I do not need to remind members that Ireland's financing of overseas development assistance, ODA, places us in the lowest percentage at 0.3% of GNI, which is the lowest in 17 years. There is cross-party support for a multi-annual plan to move towards the internationally recognised target of 0.7%, but nothing practical has been done. We must take practical action.

While discussing immediate issues is important, it is also important that we keep an eye on the bigger picture, namely, shaping an Ireland of the future that demands a vision for growth that is based on fairness, equality and sustainability. Deputy Crowe and others attended the launch of the SDG coalition in March. I hope that they agree that we must grab hold of the SDGs. They provide the bold, collective vision for change and transformation that we desperately need. To achieve them will demand a fundamental shift in the way we work and bold and brave political choices. Eighteen months after the Taoiseach signed the SDGs, we are still none the wiser as to how the Government will progress them. We understand that the matter is with the Cabinet and we are awaiting that decision, but time is moving on. This is not about 15 years' time. The SDGs cannot be put on hold until we solve the migration crisis or Brexit. Quite the reverse - they are the roadmap that we need now. They will allow us to respond collaboratively and think outside the box in order to meet the many challenges that the committee will hear about this morning. They demand that we make choices in the spirit of collaboration so that, while we can be realistic and practical, we can also work in a spirit of solidarity.

I thank the committee for allowing us to contribute. I will hand over to Ms Faure of the Overseas Development Institute, ODI.