Ms Jane-Ann McKenna:

There are one or two that I will briefly touch on, but of course I can furnish the Deputy with further details as well. Regarding the Great Lakes, as far as I am aware, neither of my colleagues works there but a number of our members do, so I can provide the Deputy with information following the session today.

On the funding issue, as Ms Van Lieshout mentioned, a significant number of crises have happened and, on a global level, funding streams are being diverted. The knock-on impact is often with regard to investment in sustainable development and investment in key areas such as education, empowerment of local communities, and trying to reach the furthest behind first in a more sustained and long-term way. Ireland has always protected its humanitarian and development budgets, which is very welcome. We have not seen that displacement and we are increasing our aid budget, but we are not on track to reach 0.7% of GDP by 2030. That is why we are asking for a roadmap with regard to that to see how Ireland will be able to reach the target we have committed to.

When it comes to the point about moral authority, we saw very clearly Ireland's leadership during the UN Security Council. One of Ireland's final actions was the agreement on the humanitarian carve-outs. That has had significant impact for our organisations working on the ground. There was a comment earlier on Afghanistan. A very practical way to create space and to be able to reach people in the most difficult circumstances is around some of those policy areas where Ireland has traction and can broker this kind of progress. This is what we are hoping to see at the SDG summit this year. We are very proud and it is a huge opportunity that Ireland is co-hosting the political declaration. It will be challenging and I think I can say, not only for my colleagues here but for all Dóchas members, that we stand ready to support the Government with regard to any particular SDGs and with regard to any information, expertise or support we can give to make the political declaration a reality.