Mr. Ruairí de Búrca:

Nobody ever says that they are under-reporting. It is about good communication and we perhaps need to double check that what we ask of organisations is proportionate to the amount of money we give them. If a higher level of money is given or if it is over a multi-annual period, one needs a higher degree of oversight. Quarterly reporting is an important part of risk management in terms of financial probity and so on, which is needed, and also if something is not working one wants to be able to understand that as early as possible so the money can be used for something else. There is never a guarantee that what one starts will deliver what one wants. One needs to find a balance and that is more art than science. It is about communication.

Deputy Crowe's point about feedback in the context of communication and how we can better relate to Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas is well made. Several Deputies were recently in Uganda and we have resolved to meet them to get their feedback and impressions. There has already been correspondence in that regard. That should be done on a more institutional basis in the future. We do not always know when people go because they can also do so on a private basis. We are open to being contacted and told that a person has something he or she wants to tell us. It is a two-way conversation. The Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa, AWEPA, which is part of our relationship with Members of the Oireachtas, is also important in that regard.

There were several questions from Deputy Crowe and Deputy O'Sullivan about the European Development Fund, EDF, and how we engage with it. In part, it goes through the normal EU decision-making processes whereby there is a proposal from the European Commission that goes through various committees on which Irish civil servants are represented and is finally technically signed off by Ministers. The trick is to get in there before the European Commission makes its proposals. We use our embassy network in the countries in which we are most engaged in Africa to ensure we are talking to people very far up the food chain in the European Commission to make sure the propositions that come through are ones we can support and endorse down the line. That also means we have a mechanism on the ground to track what is happening. We do not have a presence everywhere in the world and there are different priorities in different areas. For example, if the European Commission comes up with a proposal for using the EDF in Latin America, our ability to influence that is reduced because we have a lesser diplomatic footprint and assistance budget for that area.

The broad precept or strategy is set out in a 20-year agreement called the Cotonou Agreement wherein the EU agreed broad terms of engagement with African, Caribbean and Pacific states. The current agreement expires in 2020 and next year a new set of negotiations between the EU and those countries will begin, which is an opportunity for a reset or a rethink on whether we are doing the right thing. We are beginning to think about how we can endeavour to get it right. Although it has not been discussed in any great depth or with the Minister, we would like a continued focus on the least developed countries and Africa in particular. Brexit may affect the balance of how that works and we must be aware of that. Classic EU governance structures such as the Court of Auditors and so on are involved. There is a relationship between the Court of Auditors and our own audit, etc. There is a lot to this area and I can come back to the Deputies in writing if they wish because I do not want to take up too much of the committee's time. We are aware of the issue and we accept the premise and so on.

A broader issue raised is that we currently give quite a lot of money to multilateral organisations but it is not one cheque. Some of the money we give to multilateral institutions is at local level. For example, we might give money to UNICEF in one of our key partner countries to deliver something such as an education process or social protection programmes etc. for young mothers, and that organisation is subject to the normal local oversight rules we would have with any partner. There is a variable geometry in how we engage with multilateral organisations and we are very conscious of having to ensure we can stand over the money we spend. If members have a question about any particular partnership, we can come back to them on that.