Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I thank the Chairman. I welcome the opportunity to meet the committee today and present the 2013 Revised Estimates for Vote 27 - International Co-Operation. I will briefly introduce the development programme placed in the context of our new policy, One World, One Future.

Vote 27, international co-operation, covers the main element of the Government's development assistance programme. The Vote provides funding for the second of the Department's high-level goals, namely, to contribute the reduction of global poverty and hunger with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa.

For 2013 the Government has provided a total of €622 million for official development assistance, ODA, €497 million of which will be administered under Vote 27. The remaining €125 million is accounted for through contributions to international development by other Government Departments and Ireland's share of the EU development co-operation budget. This level of funding broadly stabilises Ireland's total contribution to ODA at its 2012 level, which is a very significant achievement in what people will recognise are very challenging times.

Last week I briefed the committee on One World, One Future, our new policy for international development. The policy set out the principles, goals and priority areas for action which will guide the Government's efforts in development co-operation over the coming years. It reaffirms Ireland's commitment to international development and builds on the solid foundation of our overseas aid programme. It provides a framework for the Government to prioritise further and focus even more intently on the results we and our partners are achieving in ensuring that we maintain our sharp focus on the poorest, the hungry and the malnourished, as well as those affected by conflict, insecurity and humanitarian emergencies.

The new policy will guide all of Government actions and provide stronger coherence across Departments. It provides a fresh commitment on hunger, climate change, fragile states and human rights, including gender equality, all of which were important areas for us in the past but which will now be accorded even greater prominence. In implementing the policy the Department will seek greater prioritisation in the use of our resources, transparency, accountability and value for money. I look forward to a continued close working relationship with the committee and I am ready to discuss any aspect of the aid programme.

Before I open up the discussion, I would like to be associated with the remarks made by the Tánaiste on the Irish Presidency. It was a very intensive period, as the Chairman and members of the committee will know. Major progress was made in this area of development, especially in hunger, nutrition and food security. Not only did we hold a major international conference which many committee members attended, but it is now part of the Council conclusions and EU policy.

There were conclusions on resilience, which is the process of recovery, rehabilitation and sustainable development. The Council conclusions in this regard were moved forward with the EU. The greatest success was probably in the area of the post-2015 agenda, where we have now established the EU framework for the future, the vision, namely, the eradication of extreme poverty through sustainable development, and a lot of the priority issues to be included in that.

I do not believe all of that work could have been done without the assistance of the outstanding workforce in Irish Aid in Limerick and Dublin, some of whom are here today. I refer to Brendan Rogers, the director general of Irish Aid, Colm O'Flynn, and the secretariat involved in Brussels with the talks, trialogues and work that took place. We discussed these matters with the Chairman and committee over the six months of the Presidency.

I was impressed by the success of COSAC and AWEPA which took place last week. Many members of the committee and members of Parliament were present. I wish to put our appreciation for the continued intensive involvement of the committee in this work on the record.