Mr Éamonn Meehan:

On engaging with parliamentarians, I think of the work of the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa, AWEPA. I know many Members of the Oireachtas are members of AWEPA. It is an initiative that has delivered many positive outcomes over the years and it would be wonderful to see it renewed. It would be wonderful to see more Members of the Dáil and Seanad involved with AWEPA, creating environments and spaces where parliamentarians from the countries where Irish Aid and the NGO community works have the opportunity to visit and engage. Ultimately, this is about creating local structures that are successful and generate and promote good governance, as well as the space for civil society. More and more what we see is authoritarianism, poor governance, increasing corruption and a narrowing of civil society space where even community and small human rights organisations no longer have the space to operate. They are under pressure and staff are detained or watched. How they get their money is monitored and it is increasingly difficult for the organisations that are critical to progress, development and good governance. Years ago when Mr. Nelson Mandela was in Ireland, in response to a question about what Europe could do for Africa, he said that African leaders need to think deeply about what they can do for their own people. He stepped down as president after one term, which was central to that idea. More political engagement is critical.

There is a path to the 0.7% of gross national income goal. We would like to know whether the timeline is 2025 or 2030, as we recently heard both years mentioned. Irish Aid has indicated that if we hit the goal, the organisation would come under stress because of the amount of money involved. If there is a plan and the Department and Government have time to plan and put in place structures, systems and people, it is all readily achievable.

On the matter of tied and untied aid, tied aid is essentially as much about the donor country's government as it is about the recipients. It may not be poverty-focused. Much of it may be tied to contracts and business from the home country receiving the aid. Much of it never leaves the capital city of the donor. It may be tied to the purchase of food for delivery and distribution. On tax havens and transfer pricing, it is clear that more money leaves the Continent of Africa through the use of tax havens and transfer pricing than goes into development co-operation and that is a real problem. Work to address it is going on but it really needs significant attention.

On least developed countries, LDCs, I was shocked when I saw that figure when preparing for this briefing. Some 0.15% of gross national income is the UN target for funds to go to least developed countries in aid and very few countries meet that target at the moment. It is a shockingly small amount of money for the most vulnerable countries and people on the planet. In local communities, as Deputy Crowe was saying, training for transformation is an essential component of the work of organisations such as Trócaire and those who work through Misean Cara. It is ultimately about strengthening local capacity, civil society, governance and communities. Sometimes, the structures and systems that we, in the West, put in place cripple local initiative, enterprise and opportunity.

It would be a valuable use of this committee's time to ask where the European Development Fund, EDF, goes, and to ask about the European Union's development policies and the Mediterranean. Mr. MacSorley mentioned that Europe has taken several million refugees. Uganda has taken in 2 million refugees from South Sudan. Refugees are a geographic problem. It would be very useful to better understand what is now driving EU development policy from Brussels and where that money goes.