Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 8 March 2018

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence

Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade (Revised)

2:00 pm

Photo of Darragh O'BrienDarragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is an absolute necessity to increase the figure substantially. I also agree with the Minister that we should increase the level of official development assistance, but within the overall budget for foreign affairs we could do a lot more than provide €11.59 million and I believe there is the political will to do so. I asked how many of the 490 applicants had to be turned away because we did not have the funding sought. If we are reaching out to the diaspora and asking it to do more for us, it should be a two-way street. I have met many of the diaspora in Chicago, London, Manchester and Lisbon and they do a fantastic job. The programme is very valuable and we need to value it more. We need to utilise it better and put more into it.

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