Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman. I welcome this opportunity to present the 2022 Estimate for Vote 27 - international co-operation. Through Vote 27, the Department of Foreign Affairs manages just under 60% of Ireland’s official development assistance, ODA, programme, which is known to the public as Irish Aid. The Vote provides the funding necessary to deliver on the Department’s high-level goal of working for a more just, secure and sustainable world.

This is the first year in which total ODA will exceed €1 billion, with the budget day allocation of €1.045 billion representing an increase of €176 million, or approximately 20%, on the allocation for 2021. This is the eighth consecutive year in which the overall allocation to the development co-operation programme has increased. Just under 60% of this total, a figure of €605 million, is allocated to the Department of Foreign Affairs and is managed through Vote 26. The allocation to Vote 27 for 2022 is €35 million greater than in 2021. The remaining 40% of Ireland’s overall ODA allocation for this year, a forecasted €440.5 million, is managed by other Departments, notably the Departments of Finance and Health, as well as the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

A key element is Ireland’s contribution to the EU development co-operation budget, as well as assessed and voluntary contributions to international organisations managed through other Government Departments. This year, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, which leads on national refugee response, will also account for a portion of Ireland’s ODA. This increased allocation for ODA for 2022 is a demonstration of the Government’s commitment to international development. International development is not simply the right thing to do but, as we have been reminded by the pandemic and, in recent weeks, by the war in Ukraine, our effective aid programme is a clear and practical protection of our interests.

Through the Irish Aid programme, we invest in a better, safer and more sustainable world. Through the quality of our programming, the aid programme helps us expand our influence and strengthen our partnerships, today and for tomorrow.

ODA is an integral component of Ireland’s overall foreign policy and national presence overseas, enabling Ireland to respond to complex human needs and humanitarian crises around the world. As the OECD found in its 2020 peer review of the Irish Aid programme, Ireland is one of the few leading donors delivering principled, high quality, untied and coherent development co-operation and humanitarian responses. A Better World, Ireland’s policy for international development, provides the framework for our whole-of-government development co-operation programme. Rooted in the sustainable development goals, A Better World focuses our efforts on four policy priorities, which together ensure that our programme reaches the furthest behind first. These priorities are gender equality, reducing humanitarian need, climate action and strengthening governance. We deliver on these priorities through working intensely across three clusters of interventions building on areas where Ireland has both proven expertise and which also resonate with our own development trajectory. These clusters are in the areas of protection, food and people.

In recent weeks, since the invasion of Ukraine, Irish Aid has been working with our partners to ensure that Ireland is contributing to the protection of people affected by the conflict, whether in Ukraine or in places where they are taking refuge. More than €10 million in bilateral humanitarian assistance was released immediately, complementing pre-positioned Irish funding which the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross have released as part of the response to what is happening in Ukraine. The Irish Aid team is working with partners to put additional supports in place.

With regard to the Covid-19 pandemic, it will continue to have a negative impact on the development outcomes of people around the world. That is why this year, through Vote 27, we will continue to invest in global public health and contribute to global efforts to ensure vaccines are available to people, regardless of income or where they are from. In addition, officials in my Department continue to work with HSE experts to deliver improvements in public health in partner countries throughout Africa. Through the bilateral programmes managed by our embassies in Africa and in Vietnam we are working to mitigate the long-term social and developmental impacts of the pandemic in our partner countries.

Our Shared Future, the programme for Government, contains a commitment to making incremental, sustainable progress towards achieving the UN target of spending 0.7% of gross national income, GNI, on ODA by 2030. This year’s allocation is the highest amount allocated by any Government ever to ODA, and a 20% increase on the cash allocation for 2021. I expect that this figure will correspond to 0.32% of GNI for 2022 given our strong economic recovery, as we balance sustained and sizeable increases in Ireland's allocation to ODA in GNI percentage terms against the need to responsibly manage the Irish Aid allocation. My Department is currently reviewing and building systems that will enable our development programme to grow further, including as a proportion of GNI, in a sustainable and responsible way. We continue to plan carefully and consult other Departments and stakeholders to ensure this is done effectively.

Ireland’s international development programme has always been focused on the need to protect the most vulnerable in society. The evolving global context, marked by a global pandemic, conflict, the threat of climate change, extreme violence against women and girls and growing inequality, requires a transformative, integrated approach. We will continue to invest in our strategic, coherent approach across Government to development co-operation and humanitarian action as well as strengthening our representation and engagement at the European Union, United Nations and other multilateral spaces, including during Ireland’s ongoing term as an elected member of the UN Security Council this year.

Our international development programme focuses on helping those most in need. However, as we have learned in recent years, what impacts on people abroad also affects us at home in many different ways. Put simply, to be safe at home we need to invest, through the aid programme and our diplomacy, in ensuring others are safe in the places they call home. I take pride in our reputation as a leader in development co-operation and humanitarian action. Our capacity and effectiveness in responding to complex crises are well regarded, complementing our contributions to the protection of human rights, to peacekeeping and to disarmament. The values that guide our effective and impactful programming in difficult contexts also serve to protect us, while being an expression of our global solidarity.

I welcome comments and questions from members.