Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is a danger of bringing ourselves into depression, particularly following what we have heard about the scandalous proposal to destroy food. Irish Aid does so much positive work but we do not talk it up enough. The first positive I want to mention is that there is cross-party and non-party support right across the Oireachtas in relation to this. The Irish people are very giving. We have our own history of hunger and oppression, etc. We are not unique but we have a voice that needs to be heard.

I have seen some of the programmes in which CONCORD Europe has been involved. I recall a "train the trainer" programme was rolled out so that people could combat climate change in the context of food. People were taught to grow rice using less water and this increased the amount of food grown by between 10% and 15%, which had a great impact on farmers. The programmes had positive effects, whereby farmers wanted to learn more about it, having seen the increase in the rate of food production.

In the last Dáil, I was the convenor of the Ireland-Nepal Friendship Group. Last weekend, it was Nepal Day. Some of the organisations that were involved in the Nepal-Ireland alliance include Trócaire, Irish Aid, Irish Red Cross, the Social and Health Education Project, Concern Worldwide Ireland, Umbrella Foundation Ireland, Nagarhope Ireland, Engineers Without Borders Ireland, Habitat for Humanity Ireland, Plan International Ireland and Leprosy Mission Ireland. People may ask what positive influence can be exerted by one small country.

That is having a positive impact on Nepal. It is having a positive impact on the people living in that country and on their view of Ireland. There are positives for Ireland in trade but also in relation to goodwill and we need to talk it up rather than talk it down. As bad as the world is, without our input it would be a lot worse. That is the message this committee should be sending out today. The Cathaoirleach spoke about untied aid, which is also really positive. We are not unique but we are a leader in this area. If there is a message here for the witnesses' organisations, it is to keep it up. We need to give them as much support as we can. We have to devise a plan to achieve the 0.7% GNI target.