Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 23 June 2016

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence

Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade (Revised)

9:00 am

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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Programme B covers the Department's contribution towards a more just world, the promotion and protection of human rights internationally and a more secure world based on a stable and secure rules-based international environment. Over 70% of current expenditure in this programme is made up of contributions to international organisations. My Department's commitments to international peace, security and human rights under Vote 28 is channelled through programme B which has a total allocation of €56.8 million. This compares to €57 million in 2014. In addition, we have a contribution under international co-operation of €480 million under Vote 27, which the Minister of State will address.

Ireland's role and influence in the developing world is far greater than our size warrants. This is the result of many factors. My Department maintains strong partnerships with our bilateral partners in Africa. Other factors include regular policy dialogue and voluntary contributions to our UN partner organisations. We continue to work closely with the Irish NGO community in the implementation of our aid programme. We increasingly seek out strong engagement across Departments such as the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on agricultural development in Africa and the Department of Health on global health issues. The reputation of Ireland's development programme has consistently been one of high quality, as has been endorsed in the most recent peer review of the OECD development assistance committee. I am proud to emphasise the dedication of our embassy staff in very difficult environments, not least the commitment and skill shown by our team in Freetown last year in tackling the Ebola crisis. During that crisis, we worked closely with all partners on the ground and were seen to have led the field in terms of responding quickly and appropriately to what was an horrific international crisis.

Finally, I would like to reflect on the role played by Ireland in responding to the migration crisis. We are seeing more people than ever before fleeing from conflict and poverty across the Syria region and many parts of Africa. Through the Irish Aid programme, my Department continues to provide humanitarian assistance to alleviate the suffering of people caught up in such a crisis as well as the communities in neighbouring countries that are hosting large numbers of refugees and displaced people.

On the matter of UN contributions, most of the expenditure under this programme relates to Ireland's mandatory contributions to national organisations of which we are a member, including the UN, in the case of which the significant out-turn relates to contributions in support of our peacekeeping operations. I had the opportunity last week to visit our troops in the Golan Heights. The committee might give appropriate attention to this mission in terms of its travel arrangements because, from my experience and I know from the members', the troops abroad always like to engage with Irish parliamentarians. Predicting payments for the programme, particularly regarding UN peacekeeping operations, can be difficult. Estimated costs are submitted in some cases 12 months in advance of when a payment might be finalised. New missions can arise in response to emerging crises. The uncertainty of the dollar-euro exchange rate has all the potential to impact on the final out-turn that will be due in any given year. I might mention in passing that Ireland is seeking election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in June 2020 for the 2021-22 term. We declared this candidacy in 2005 and will be basing our campaign on Ireland's foreign policy credentials and strong international standing within the United Nations on the matter of disarmament and non-proliferation. These issues will remain a priority for 2016, building on our active engagement and participation in the international disarmament and non-proliferation process.

We continue to advance human rights priorities, building on our successful membership and solid record of achievements on the UN Human Rights Council, following our two-year term on the council, which ended last year. A key pillar of our international engagement under programme B is our input into shaping and formulating the European Union's common foreign policy on defence and security, most notably meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council, in which I participated last week. During my visit to the Middle East I met the Israeli Prime Minister, the Palestinian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and the opposition leader in Israel. I also visited troops serving in the Golan Heights and met with senior UN officials. I would be happy to speak further on this issue, perhaps at a future meeting, because I believe that our UN peacekeeping missions and the high esteem in which the Irish contingent is held by our international colleagues are hugely important. We have taken on for many years positions not only regarding our experience, but also our leadership expertise. I would also like an opportunity at some future time with the committee to discuss the Middle East peace process.

Expenditure under this programme remains largely on target. The level of our final UN contribution, however, will not be known until later in the year.