Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Roughneen. I listened with great interest, and too many meetings were mentioned. I know the reverend sister is in the audience but I remember as a young fella having an uncle who worked through the Redemptorists in the north east of Brazil - I could nearly give the exact date. In 1979 he took over more than $10,000 strapped to himself that had been donated from different communities and from different people. That money went straight to build a facility for people with disabilities.

In latter years, I worked with people who were in Rwanda who tried to get out, particularly after the genocide and the difficulties there. When I was elected, we discussed Irish Aid and the global aid being provided and different countries and governments coming together for global aid. Those who had worked in the north east of Brazil and in Rwanda - some of whom got into fierce difficulties with the dictatorships there at the time and were imprisoned for a time and so forth - were asking how effective it was and what percentage of the money given by Irish Aid landed where it is needed for disabilities. The committee was at the UN in June and as for there being too many meetings, there is an awful lot of discussion going on about what the right thing to do is. Sometimes trying to get it word perfect or the system perfect stops real and effective change. I know there have to be checks and balances because, as was mentioned, in some countries we are dealing with very difficult and corrupt regimes. There are also conflicts and major civil wars going on. We have to be advocates for getting more aid from the developed countries. We see the challenges for people with disabilities in our own country in getting enough funding let alone in places that are underdeveloped. Would it be a concern for witnesses that there are too many systems or that too much money is spent on building the systems rather than getting the money to the places where it is needed? The witnesses may like to comment on that.

Maybe it is a challenge that we spend too much time talking about it. I know a guy who worked as a layperson in Burkina Faso in the early 2000s. He said the most direct way to get funding to where it was needed was in the lining of missionaries' coats. He said also that there were too many systems. That may be an over-generalisation but is there a challenge there that we are building too many systems to really have a direct impact on people with disabilities in countries that are not equipped, or that the attitude is not there, to provide what is necessary for them?