Ms Suzanne Keatinge:

I thank the committee for the opportunity for Dóchas to make an input into the committee's review of the Irish Aid programme. This is a welcome and timely initiative. Our members have made a number of submissions. We know of at least 14 from a couple of our working groups, at least seven or eight of our agencies and some coalitions, for example, the Irish Development Education Association, IDEA, the Development Education Network and the Irish Consortium on Gender Based Violence. I hope that this gives a strong sense of our interest in being involved in this process and the significant support from and commitment by Irish civil society towards the programme.

Alas, I will not have time today to represent each and every one of those submissions, but I will start by highlighting a few of the recurring themes. We need to speak practically about how we can scale up funding to Irish Aid's programme while maintaining its quality. This quality is based on untied aid and is focused on tackling the root causes of poverty, meeting basic needs and working in the least developed countries.

We need to speak about strengthening the partnership - the meaningful dialogue - with civil society so as to allow us to do what we are good at, that is, delivering real change to communities on the ground, playing in the privileged space for advocacy at home and abroad, and playing a vital role in development education and public engagement.

We need to speak about how Irish Aid's programme is able to go beyond the business-as-usual approach if we are to deliver on the transformative ambition of the sustainable development goals, SDGs.

I will stick to two main points, the first of which will set the scene and share a few of the broader contextual challenges that make this review so timely and important. The second will emphasise what is a major opportunity by insisting that Irish Aid's programme remain at the forefront of Ireland's efforts to increase its global footprint. I will then hand over to my colleagues, Ms Heydi Foster-Breslin from Misean Cara, Mr. Éamonn Meehan, CEO of Trócaire, and Mr. Dominic MacSorley from Concern, to elaborate on the recommendations made in Dóchas's submissions. We are also joined by Ms Louise Finan, policy officer with Dóchas, and Ms Noreen Gumbo from Trócaire, who is also the chair of Dóchas's humanitarian working group.

By way of context, I am very aware of the very wide-ranging and positive discussion the committee had recently with Mr. Niall Burgess, from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Ruairí de Búrca, the new director of Irish Aid. While not trying to repeat the many points and issues that were raised, it may be useful to be reminded of the context and their key descriptions of the Irish Aid programme. Mr. Burgess, for example, started by speaking about Ireland's values as being universal and founded on the UN Declaration of Human Rights. He stated our place in the world is founded on ensuring that others are secure and prosperous in their own parts of the world. He also spoke about the fast-changing context and the interconnected world we live in, which demands, I believe, that we must find new ways of collaborating, adapting and joining the dots, particularly in respect of our work at home and overseas. One got a sense, from the conversation, of the need to have ambition in the Irish Aid programme. After all, that is ultimately what the sustainable development goals are all about. It is a question of thinking about ways of using new technology, involving the diaspora and the private sector, and perhaps being willing to take more risks if we are to innovate in the work we do. We know, however, that we are living through turbulent times, not least because of our being battered by the effects of climate change, as Hurricane Ophelia reminded us all too well on Monday. We must also go further to appreciate the very real political crisis we are in.

At Dóchas's annual conference this year, a South African activist, Kumi Naidoo, reminded us that we are in an age of cynicism and mistrust in which it is easier to use narrow identity politics, laugh off allegations of sexual abuse of women, build walls and offer a vision of populist nationalism to win votes than to convince people of an agenda for transformative change, one that spans borders, recognises the potential of women and believes in the richness of multiple identities. It is also an agenda that understands the huge threat posed by climate change.

In addition to experiencing this political crisis, we are experiencing conflict, large-scale displacement and humanitarian need like never before. We have been before this committee many times in this regard. In April this year, we talked about the four famines, which still rage today. Back in July 2016, we were before the committee talking about the effects of migration and the refugee crisis as Ireland played a critical role in negotiating the New York Declaration on Migration and Refugees.

It is important to remember that, during those meetings, we also heard the personal stories of the people and families behind the statistics. We need to remember also the impact of time on those many millions of people who are suffering and displaced. I was at an event last week to recognise the Day of the Girl. At the event, we heard about the 130 million children who are not being educated. They are surely the lost generations we will have to deal with in the future. I am sure from our own history that we recognise the importance of dealing with and managing trauma and violence, and I am sure we recognise how long it takes to build the long, painful road to peace.

The challenges are considerable, therefore, and we need to find ways to meet them, but we also need to remember that we have a huge opportunity in Ireland today. It is an opportunity to put Irish Aid up front and central to increase and strengthen our global footprint and international reputation. The Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, spoke in September at the Fine Gael think-in about increasing Ireland's global footprint through a greater diplomatic, trade, tourism and enterprise presence. We should also be talking about building a strong, well-resourced and ambitious Irish Aid programme of which Ireland can be proud.

I have no doubt that each member has his or her own stories and anecdotes about what has made him or her proud of what the Irish footprint looks like. For me, a particularly memorable moment was being in Mogadishu in the late 1990s. To be honest, it was probably not the best place for a relatively young development worker. The Somalis, however, were always eager to ask me where I came from. When I said Ireland, their eyes would light up and they would ask, “Do you know Mary Robinson?” I did not want to disappoint too much so I said I knew her but not personally. Mary Robinson's visit in 1992 is a visit Somalis remember so well, even today. What she brought to them was hope and solidarity. What she stood for was universal values of human rights and a belief in the importance of international humanitarian law. She also showed immense physical courage and bravery by going to Somalia at that time. She was willing to shine a light on a crisis that no one else wanted to talk about. Anyone looking at the footage of her visit will see that she sat and listened to people who were suffering. She talked to them and offered hope to those families who were in desperate need. I confess it was always good to be Irish in Mogadishu, and that is still the case today.

To me, however, it is a matter of framing the Irish Aid programme around some of the aforementioned key ingredients. It is the values based on human rights, political leadership and the courage to speak up for those who are suffering that will make the Irish Aid programme so important. Let us remember also that, in Somalia at the time in question, amazing work was being done by Irish NGOs. Concern and Trócaire, in particular, have been there throughout the crisis. Having visited both Mogadishu and Gedo at the time, I noted nobody else wanted to go there. The NGOs, however, were on the ground and working closely with communities to meet absolutely critical needs. It is these ingredients that I hope will shape the Irish Aid programme of the future.

I thank the Chairman. I will hand over to my colleague, Ms Heydi Foster Breslin.