For 2019, we allocated €817 million to official development assistance, ODA, a substantial investment on behalf of the taxpayer and a clear demonstration of the Government's commitment to our aid programme. It is also a first step towards delivering on that UN target of 0.7%. Robust economic growth, however, has put a downward pressure on our ODA to gross national income, GNI, percentage outturn. In the recent past, the target fell from a high of 0.59% in 2008 to 0.32% in 2017.

For 2018, we set ourselves a target of 0.3%. As it stands, and based on current projections for GNI and allocated levels of ODA, we are unlikely to deliver on that target. The Supplementary Estimate I propose will facilitate delivering the ODA-GNI percentage target of 0.3% in 2018. That brings the total 2018 budget allocation to Vote 27 to €515 million, which, coupled with ODA from other Departments and Ireland's share of the EU development co-operation budget, I am confident will deliver on that commitment to a target of 0.3% of GNI for this year.

These additional resources will help in the following areas: contribute to Ireland delivering on the target of 0.3% for 2018, to which we committed at the beginning of the year; support delivery on key political commitments, including the Taoiseach's commitment to increase Ireland's contribution to the EU emergency trust fund, EUTF, for Africa; contribute to delivering on Ireland's clear commitments to education and, in particular, education for girls; support effective multilateralism and rules-based international order in response to changing international politics, which has seen the withdrawal of funding from organisations such as the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, UNRRA, and the United Nations Population Fund; and build on a Government priority to increase support for conflict prevention and peace building.

In that context, I will briefly comment on Ireland's new policy for international development which will be launched early in the new year. Our new policy will deliver a fresh approach to the transformative ambition of the United Nations' sustainable development goals. It is defined by our values, reflects current realities and responds to the challenges of the increasingly complex international and development co-operational landscape. It will be built on the foundation of the sustainable development goals, which provide an interconnected international policy framework for action, allowing the space to specialise and sharpen our focus. As has been the case in the past, our primary focus will be on those furthest behind. We will have a central focus on addressing extreme poverty, vulnerability and marginalised groups. We will build on our track record in reaching the poorest and most vulnerable. We recognise there is much to do and reaching those who have been left out of progress to date will be difficult.

We have identified a number of key areas which we are working to flesh out, including reducing humanitarian need, promoting gender equality, strengthening our work to address climate change and strengthening governance. We want to work in a structured and strategic way across these key strategies, such that each reinforces the other. A culture of respect for human rights will underpin all of our work. We will use our leadership and influence in multilateral fora to build collective support for targeted actions in support of interventions in these areas. Conflict prevention and protection will be a key focus, building on our experience at home and responding to the call of the UN Secretary General for the need to focus on conflict prevention. We will seek to reinforce the intersections between Ireland's peacekeeping and conflict resolution work, political engagement, development co-operation and humanitarian action.

I have often said I am passionate about Ireland's development co-operation programme, as is my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, and about ensuring we excel in how we target and deliver our resources for maximum impact in reducing inequality, poverty and hunger. We bring our own authentic experience to this work, delivering a world-class programme aimed at some of the world's most vulnerable and marginalised people, helping to save lives, building livelihoods and bringing life-saving humanitarian assistance to those most in need at times of crisis.

I welcome comments and questions from the committee members.