Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the delegation. Is the review that is being undertaken primarily concerned with Ireland's long-term development assistance, or will account also be taken of our contribution to urgent humanitarian crises that arise from time to time? Will there be an examination of both aspects of the State's aid budget?

The delegates spoke about transparency and accountability. As part of their review, will they be setting up a barometer, so to speak, to help them ascertain the views of the public on how the Irish Aid budget is being spent and whether there is ongoing support for it? We have gone through something of a crisis in recent months as a consequence of difficulties in the charities sector. There is a concern that many NGOs, including Trócaire, Concern and so on, are seeing a significant fall-off in fund-raising revenue and general support from the public. As part of their review, will the delegates work with these organisations to restore public confidence that the moneys being contributed by Irish Aid are being used as they were intended, namely, to help in alleviating problems in recipient countries?