Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ta fáilte romhaibh go leir. It has been a sad week following the shooting in Las Vegas and the death of Mr. Liam Cosgrave. Yesterday we met a member of the Rohingya community who was living in Ireland and wanted to know about our involvement in that particular issue.

I wish Mr. Ruairí de Búrca well in his new post. There is no doubt that Ireland's reputation in this area is second to none. It comes from the work of Irish missionaries, on which Irish Aid is building, as well as the role played by our ambassadors. There is no doubt that Irish Aid is meeting demands, but as it meets demands, there is an increasing need.

It was very good to see in the report of Irish Aid which was launched last week a breakdown of its funding of €486.6 million and read about the difference it was making, but there are questions about our share of the European Development Fund, on which the position is not clear. We have been asking questions about where exactly it goes.

Mr. Burgess mentioned lasting solutions with governments. We know how vital that is. We certainly saw some good practices when we were in Nairobi where a particular group is working with the government. The government is providing the funding for the medication and the group is working with the women who need the medication.

A group from Malawi appeared before the committee last week and we were talking about the group's relationship with the committees and how Irish Aid comes before us. That is not the norm in many African countries but it did happen in Malawi. Will such an approach be pursued? In order to work with a government it has to know what a group is doing. Irish Aid going before committees and talking about what it is doing would be very useful. Will Irish Aid try to support that approach more?

I will come back to coherence of policy again. I know it is important to Irish Aid but the question is whether we are making progress on that. We know the aid that is going out is making a difference. That is great because our aid is untied but I am sure there are increasing demands on that. When we trade, we are continuing our human rights agenda with workers' rights. We are still waiting on the report on business and human rights. That brings in the whole area of tax in terms of ensuring tax justice. We must also ensure that what we are doing - or not doing - with climate change is not impacting. The issue of policy coherence is hugely significant.

As for population growth, a report will be launched in another week or two with the latest figures. While I know how difficult it is in some countries to talk about family planning, it is vital. We see an increasing number of child brides. At the end of the report there was a reference to the fellowship programmes. How are people chosen to take part in them?