Mr. Jamie Drummond:

On that point, I suspect Ireland has probably got the balance about right, but with a growing aid programme it could address that issue in respect of the number of countries involved. I will not deny I am a believer in the multilateral system and think we all should be. I worry about an overemphasis on bilateral programmes. One needs some such programmes in order that one has proper skin in the game on a few issues, but multilateral mechanisms are extremely important and here is the reason.

I ask the committee to think of us not from our point of view but from the perspective of the people with whom we are trying to partner and help. A good finance Minister in a given African nation does not want to have 1,354 aid missions, with several from each country and also several from many multilateral mechanisms. One desperately needs the greatest level of co-ordination the international system can offer and multilateral mechanisms are one of the key ways this co-ordination occurs. It allows for an economy of scale and a reduction of overheads when they are well managed, which is not always the case. Therefore, I encourage Ireland to put enough money into the multilateral system to demand that it be as good as it can be. Reluctant participants do not get chances to leverage the big money and, I am afraid, might then become smaller fish in a smaller pond, something they do not really want. This does not mean that all bilateral programmes should be stopped; rather, it means that one should think strategically about multilateral mechanisms. One may want to invest in NGOs in so far as they help with the strategy of leveraging multilateral mechanism money.

I alluded earlier to the breakthroughs in technology and how they were allowing us to empower young people, the girls in the secondary school whom we were trying to target with aid or the young mothers whom we were trying to reach with services. If they can provide feedback on whether the services are right, proper and good and being delivered through a technological, entrepreneurial NGO that is often a local, grassroots African organisation and highly innovative, that is a very good use of money because it helps with the strategy of leveraging multilateral mechanism money and the money the donor country has given to the government. I am less excited about allocating large amounts of money to international NGOs as a general long-term practice. That may put me at odds with others, but in the long run it should not be our objective as much. Increasingly, within such countries they do not look favourably on the big international NGO scene as its representatives arrive in the alleged 4x4s and kick up the dust. It is the local NGOs that often do the best work, are significantly under-resourced and do amazingly innovative things, especially with technology. It is the young people and the generation I mentioned in Africa who are rising up and in whom we must invest. With the centre of excellence in Dublin with the technology companies, Ireland can do something very interesting to reach out to that generation, in particular, across the continent.