Mr. Michael Gaffey:

There are a number of very big issues there. The first thing I would do is to pay strong tribute to the work of the missionaries over the years, especially Irish missionaries. I mention not just Irish missionaries but all missionaries working with poor communities across Africa and Latin America and bringing education and health services where none existed or would exist if they had not been there. We are still strong supporters of the missionaries through Misean Cara. We value their work, experience and learning hugely.

The balance of risk is a constant issue. I do not want to revisit past traumas but approximately ten years ago, there was the huge problem with the loss of Irish Aid funds in Uganda. We have worked very hard on building up systems for accountability and on taking account of risk. Sometimes we hear that the systems are maybe inhibiting proper targeting. We work to get the balance right. The truth is that there is no point in putting money into a country if it disappears through corruption. Therefore, building up government, health and educational systems is a very important part of our work as well as working with individual projects and ensuring they get the money. We just have to get that balance right.

One issue that is a major discussion point internationally and in civil society and governments now is how to have a more locally led approach to development and humanitarian action, that is, how to provide aid and assistance not just in terms of what we think the priorities are but what local communities need. Through their experiences, they can tell us what they need. Maybe in the past we went too far in being too centralised and in talking down. This move towards what is called "localisation", or I think it is better to say "locally led development", is one where the debate on accountability and risk is a major one. Sometimes it is said that providing funding to small local organisations is too risky but the other side of the argument is that we will not be able to address the problems if we do not understand what those local organisations need. Therefore, there is an actual risk there in not addressing the issues that are the subject of our work. Across the NGO system and government there is a real effort now to be more locally led in our approaches. It is a challenge for civil society, for the big Irish NGOs, and for ourselves.

If we look at Ireland's work and Irish Aid's work, it can be seen that we have learned a huge amount from our work on the ground. When we talk of the United Nations, we do so on the basis of lessons we are learning in the countries we are working with, and the organisations we are working with. We have been assessed and measured internationally as one of the most effective countries in getting the assistance to the poorest, in having a poverty focus, and in getting the assistance there. We are not complacent about that but because it is such a strong, determined priority for Ireland, we are forced to and we work in that way.

At the moment, across the developed world there is a sense of shift and uncertainty as to how to use development assistance. Ireland remains very strong on the need for a poverty focus, to work in the least developed countries and for Europe to have a strong focus on Africa. That debate is ongoing inevitably because the world at the moment is in such a state that there are pressures coming from every region. Ireland is taking a lead on keeping the focus on the poorest countries and the poorest communities and in working to design our programmes so that we can live up to what we are saying our priorities are in terms of delivery.