John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his opening statement. I begin by expressing my support for the increase in the ODA budget; it is up €30 million, which is roughly 4%. It is critical we maintain our commitment to reach the figure of 0.7% of GDP by 2030, to which the Government has committed. The Minister of State might outline the road map for how we are going to get to that position because progress has been very slow. I have serious concerns that target will be missed so I ask him to outline the road map for that.

I turn to the recent demolition of Palestinian structures and the destruction of donor-funded projects in the occupied territories. We had a number of witnesses before the joint committee and one of the groups, the West Bank Protection Consortium, gave us evidence that in 2020, for example, 156 donor-funded structures were destroyed by the Israeli occupying forces in the occupied territories. That was a massive increase of 23% on the 2019 figure of Palestinian structures destroyed. When we talk of structures, these are of course houses, schools, solar panels and other basic infrastructure. The West Bank Protection Consortium told us it had lodged a compensation claim of around €625,000 with the Israeli authorities over the destruction of those donor-funded structures. The consortium told us not a penny of that had been paid, yet this is bigger than getting the money back off the Israelis, it is ultimately about holding them to account for their illegal activities. What actions are being taken by the Minister of State and by the Department to follow up and ensure that Israel is held to account, and that compensation claim is paid out for the destruction of those donor-funded structures?

Another area I want to touch on is Ethiopia, particularly the Tigray area. Ireland is one of the largest partners in terms of Irish aid to Ethiopia and the Tigray area. This has obviously been going on for many decades and we have seen the horrific abuses and we have seen deaths. We have seen the humanitarian crisis that has unfortunately evolved because of the conflict which is still playing out, not just by Ethiopian troops but also with the involvement of neighbouring countries. I therefore ask the Minister of State to outline the impact the crisis in Ethiopia is having both on the budget for Irish Aid, the impact it is having on humanitarian access and our future plans in relation to Ethiopia.

I also want to touch on probably the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world, which has been largely forgotten by the international community, namely, the situation in Yemen. War, cholera, poverty, Covid and a looming famine are having an absolutely devastating impact on civilians there.

Will the Minister of State outline what Ireland is doing in terms of our obligations and response to the horrific situation in Yemen?

Lastly, I wish to refer to the roll out of vaccines. I reiterate that I welcome the increase in the overseas development aid budget but believe it is necessary to consider the key issues thrown up by the Covid-19 pandemic. There is no doubt that lower income countries such as Yemen and, unfortunately, many other countries have been impacted more severely than other nations regarding the long-term impact of Covid. The impact of the pandemic will severely impact far outside infection and mortality rates in areas that already suffer so many serious challenges such as hunger, conflict, global warming and poverty, just to name a few. We, in Ireland, should be commended on increasing our funding to the World Health Organization. When it comes to vaccine inequality and access issues for people who live in lower income countries, as the Minister is aware, these are also related to intellectual property rights and on reaching agreement on a Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, TRIPS, waiver at the World Trade Organization. I believe it is incumbent on the Irish Government to play a constructive role and to use its status within the EU to influence its position ahead of the meeting by the TRIPS council on 8 and 9 June.

We need to lead the charge on the TRIPS waiver. Unfortunately, we have been very mute in terms of supporting the TRIPS waiver, which is and will continue to have a massive negative impact on developing countries across the world. It has the potential to undo a lot of good work in terms of trying to bring peace to countries such as Mali and other countries where women, in particular, who have been imbedded into peace process have been pulled out of those processes to look after their families and communities. Until we have a TRIPS waiver, and until we see equality in terms of the roll out of the vaccines, unfortunately, it has the potential to undo a lot of good work that has been done. I ask the Minister of State to outline his views of the TRIPS waiver. What is being done to articulate the need for a TRIPS waiver?