John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms McKenna and Ms Sidi and our other guests before the committee here this afternoon. They highlight a stark and real crisis that, unfortunately, is not unfolding; it is happening before our eyes. The call has to go out again that the world must act. We have no option.

I refer to the four key areas that Ireland needs to act on. There is an onus on the world to act. I reiterate the four are hunger, climate, conflict and Covid. Coming out of our last major crisis here in this country which was Covid, the vaccine inequality is real and still hard hitting.

I heard of the experience in west Africa but that is not a shared experience. Covid may not have hit as badly in west Africa as elsewhere but it is still a major challenge. I reiterate my call for vaccine equity right across the developing world.

I will not go through all of the points because I agree with everything the witnesses have outlined. I also have some specific questions. I agree that the onset of the brutal and barbaric war in Ukraine has had an impact, obviously in Ukraine but also right across the globe. Starvation should not be used in any circumstance as a weapon of war. Unfortunately, we are seeing this with more than 22 million tonnes of grain locked and held hostage in this game of chess being played out by Putin. It is absolutely grotesque.

We also had gross underfunding of the World Food Programme before the onset of the Covid pandemic. Many projects are being cut in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda, and down through Mali, Mozambique, the Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The list is endless. Reference was made to some other projects that are also being cut in Yemen. There is a crisis in funding for food programmes. I fear the situation in Ukraine will be used by donors to divert funding elsewhere, in all probability to buy weapons of war. That is understandable given the brutal conflict in Ukraine, but I appeal to nations to provide additional funding. Critical programmes such as this should not be cut.

I would like to get some comments on a broader issue. We heard some commentary about not cutting critical funding. Will our guests comment on the needs the challenges around funding that has been cut in other programmes? Will they also touch on the situation with Covid and the need for vaccine equity, including the impact this issue is having? I agree with all of the witnesses' asks, none of which I will challenge. I thank them very much for attending.