Mr. Jim Clarken:

I thank the committee for having us; it is great to be here. I am going to specifically focus on the impacts of cuts to aid across the globe and the importance of Ireland's ongoing commitment to growing its aid budget.

Oxfam recently published analysis that shows the Group of Seven, G7, countries, which together account for nearly three quarters of all official development assistance, are set to slash their aid spending by 28% compared with 2024 levels, driven by the US, Germany, the UK and France.

This is the biggest cut in aid in G7 countries since it was established in 1975. Cuts are putting vital public services at risk in some of the world's poorest countries, such as Liberia, Haiti, Malawi and South Sudan, where USAID made up 40% of health and education budgets, leaving them heavily exposed. As Mr. Balfe mentioned, combined with the debt crisis and the amount of repayments required by these countries, it is leaving these governments in a position whereby they do not have the ability to care for their people.

Global aid for nutrition will fall by 44% compared with 2022. Just €128 million worth of US-funded child nutrition programmes will result in an extra 163,500 child deaths per year. At the same time, 2.3 million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition are now at risk of losing their lifesaving treatments.

Overall, we estimate that the US Agency for International Development, USAID, cuts will lead to up to 3 million preventable deaths every year, with 95 million people losing access to healthcare. This includes dying from the lack of vaccines for preventable diseases, pregnant women losing access to care and the rising deaths from malaria, TB and HIV, and reminds us how much progress has been made in those areas in recent decades.

The UN's ambition for requests for funding are dropping. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has stated it is reducing its appeal by over one third, down to €29 billion. These are the deepest funding cuts ever. It will refocus on the most critical emergencies under what it calls a "hyper-prirotised" plan. Similarly, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, is slashing thousands of staff despite the fact that more people are now fleeing than at any time in history and the services of the UNHCR are needed more than ever. The consequence will be that refugee women and girls will be left at extreme risk of rape and other abuse. They are already losing access to services that kept them safe. Children are being left without teachers or schools, pushing them into child labour, trafficking or early marriage. Refugee communities will have less water, shelter and food.

We say all these things so the committee understands the scale of the cuts and how deep the impact will be. There will be deaths from hunger and preventable diseases. Across the world, aid agencies will have to make cruel decisions about where the aid goes. As the head of the UN relief agency said, it will now be forced into "a triage of human survival". The world will be a far more dangerous place to be a child, particularly in the global south. It will be a far more dangerous place for women. We know the Guttmacher Institute has estimated that 47.6 million women will have no access, or much reduced access, to sexual and reproductive health rights. We know there will be a spike in gender-based violence and a lack of service provided to those who have been affected.

We know the committee is well aware of Ireland's strong history in this area. As the world becomes increasingly insecure, it is incumbent on those nations that have decided not to turn inwards, such as Ireland, and who still value a multilateral world to turn more outwards and stand squarely with the countries of the global south. We know this because of our unique history as a colonised country and all the history that goes with it. We want no less for the countries of Africa, in particular, and their children, who want the chance not only to survive but to thrive.

Ireland's role in development co-operation plays a large part in our global soft power. We know our position on bodies such as the UN Security Council and the Human Rights Council, which we are looking to be a part of, is due in no small way to the support we get from those countries that believe Ireland's bona fides and value our role as a small player with an outsized impact. That significance has a dramatic impact. We can see the effects of this leadership when it comes to Palestine, for example, where EU countries are now backing Ireland's position on the EU-Israel trade association agreement. Our voice is significant. Morale leadership means something, as it always did, but even more particularly in today's world, which gets more insecure and dangerous by the day.

True security is not built on military force alone. It is built through commitments to stability, diplomacy, democracy and development. Reducing aid will not make our world safer. In fact, it will make it much more fragile. It will increase humanitarian crises and fuel the conflicts we seek to prevent, ultimately undermining long-term global security and stability. Now is the time for Ireland and Europe to scale up its role in tackling poverty, humanitarian crises and inequalities.

We ask members to protect and increase aid budgets so we can address global challenges together with communities and partner countries in the global south and build a safer, fairer, more connected world for all.