Ms Jane-Ann McKenna:

Given the impact of the aid cuts, we are seeing that there is no one country that will be able to fill the gap. We believe that the EU might now be the largest donor of ODA globally when one combines national contributions and the EU institutional contribution. Even at EU level, we do not anticipate that the gap can be filled. The retreat of EU member states is significant. There is a pattern where even those that have reached 0.7% are scaling back. We are saying that it is more important than ever that, at EU level and not just Ireland, we retain and hold that line because we cannot afford to fall further back.

Sometimes, the narrative is about the impact and effectiveness of aid, but the significant progress made in reducing poverty since 2000 is effectively being reversed. We are seeing backwards sliding, whereby some of the indicators that had been going down over the past 20 years following investment, significant amounts of ODA and countries reducing their poverty levels are going up again. While we may not be able to fill the gap created by the US, Ireland can influence at EU level, ensure that the EU does not go in the same direction and, through the various instruments, ensure we are very much targeting and keeping poverty alleviation, inequality and human development at the centre because some of those words are being lost in a number of the proposals on the table at the EU.