Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and his officials here. It is really beneficial for the country as a whole that our Minister for foreign affairs is a senior political figure because it emphasises the importance of the role we play. Internationally, a total of €1.314 billion is spent to secure our place and standing in the international community and to allow the State to respond on behalf of the people to international crisis. God knows, as the Minister has outlined, there are more than enough of those at present.

For many years, we have talked about 0.7% of GNI being the target for our development assistance. Will we, in the opinion of the Minister, be able to achieve that by 2030? In asking him that question, I salute the Government because it is doing what other governments are not. Putin and Netanyahu and their murderous regimes are succeeding not just in penalising the people they are attacking, but also in attacking the poor and the impoverished and those who are at risk of climate change and starvation throughout the world by forcing governments to readjust their priorities. There is a moral question for those governments, too.