Mr. Jim Clarken:

Certainly Ireland has to be seen as a progressive donor and we are very proud of that. We want to continue that tradition and keep Ireland on the front foot. Obviously, the Nordic countries, all of which have gone to 0.7%, or beyond it in many cases, are very principled donors. They are very clear and strong on things like gender justice and equality and human rights-focused development. There is also those that focus not just on immediate humanitarian need but also everything that surrounds it and have a development focus. To answer a question from earlier, progressive donors are those who continue to fund advocacy because advocacy can help to move the dial. Humanitarian work will help to save lives but if we want to change things, we have to focus, in particular, on locally led advocacy and issues like gender equality.

I also want to answer a question that was posed earlier in relation to the omnibus proposal on the corporate sustainability and due diligence directive. This is EU legislation which we are deeply concerned will be watered down as part of this so-called simplification, which is really a matter of rowing back on really important legislation that many have fought for over many years in order to ensure that corporates act in a way that does not have a negative impact on human rights across their supply chains in the developing world and in Europe or on climate. We are deeply concerned about it and will continue to work on it. Ireland has played a positive role in that regard and we would encourage the Minister to do the same.