Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know, but I am giving context. One cannot give up on working with other countries to help them embark on the exact same journey on which we embarked 200 years ago. Donogh O'Malley's decision to make secondary education free for all in 1967 was powerful. We can see the impact of that around us. That is why we are investing €25 million in the global partnership for education and why, when I sat in that room in Dakar, I heard education ministers from across Africa say they would roll up their sleeves and use the investment wisely. It is a long process of their education systems evolving and giving them the same strength to empower their young people to have the same successes as our own experience now.

There are 1 million additional young people coming into the workforce annually in Tanzania and 2 million in Ethiopia. By 2050 Africa will be the most dominant economic power in the world. We must ensure those young people have the skills to partake in that economic growth. The trading relationship between Africa and the European Union is unique. Trade between the Continent of Africa and the European Union is 30% higher than it is with China and the USA combined, so the relationship is very special.

The upcoming new policy for our international development programme will focus strongly on working closely with our EU partners to maximise those trade opportunities so that ultimately our relationship with the African continent will evolve over time from one of aid to one of trade. Ultimately, that is what we are working towards. I am very optimistic. While I know some members of the committee are travelling to the USA soon to meet our diaspora community, many members have also travelled to the African continent to see the work of Irish Aid and the NGOs we support on the ground. When one comes home and reflects on the work and its impact, one can only be optimistic. Our approach to international development has been recognised internationally over and over again as of a very high order. It compares with the best in the world. To an extent, we are leading the way in arriving at solutions, as devised by the officials sitting beside me and my colleagues in the Department, which can have a really powerful global impact when implemented in collaboration with others. While it is easy to get disillusioned, it is important that we do not become so.