Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

But it is not just that. If we put another €1 billion in annually, if we had it, what would it do? I am not criticising the Minister of State or the officials, but we do not seem to be getting on top of these horrible scenes that we see on television, and the poverty present in various parts of the world. There is a lot of talk. We could have a greater combined effort, say a European combined effort, to deal with these problems instead of us all going off and doing little bits and pieces but that does not seem to happen. That is a bigger issue for me. It is not one of whether we give another €100 million, or whatever. We are dealing with a problem that does not seem to be going away. I like to see that we are doing things and seeing results. We should be attacking this as a European venture, so that we deal with these horrific scenes once and for all, and if we have to pay our bit, then that is fine.

If we want to do individual things of a less serious nature, such as projects in Africa, that is fine. We can do little projects and feel satisfied but we are not going anywhere to deal with the problem of hunger and people leaving their homes, chasing around the world, being chased and looking for a decent living, all while the world is becoming a richer place, by and large. It is richer than the world in which I was brought up 70-odd years ago. It is frustrating. I am not moaning to the Minster of State, merely making the point, but can he tell us if there is a genuine effort to approach this on a European basis rather than us fighting our corner and doing our bit?