Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy has covered a lot of areas there and there is some important information within his points. First, in terms of what and how we can try to put extra resources in, one of the very important aspects that came out of COP was loss and damage. It was an incredible achievement by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Ryan, as the lead European negotiator on this. At the heart of what loss and damage is is the ability to move money quickly to countries, such as those in the horn of Africa, and to recognise that these countries are being destroyed now and not in the future by a climate-induced disaster, for which they really are not in any way responsible in terms of climate change. They will be the countries that are impacted first and most impacted, and yet their contribution to what actually caused it has been almost zero. Therefore, it is really important that the principle of loss and damage is there as a back up.

Even if we were to double or treble our contribution in the morning, no one country has the ability to deal with this issue alone. When we talk to the governments in the region, they make the point very clearly that as much as they can do, they do not have enough resources to deal with the issue. I have engaged, in particular, with the new Kenyan Government. It is working flat out and is doing absolutely everything it can, but its resources are not enough. No one country's resources are enough - even a country the size of the US. This is a collective effort and billions of euro are required. The will and determination of the international community must be there to use its international agencies, the UN and the structures that are in place, such as the World Food Programme, to prioritise the issue and get the resources in. That needs to be a global effort and the balance needs to be there.

The Deputy raised the point about contributions as percentages of GDP. Our international development budget is the biggest it has ever been. We have made more money available to this effort, as a country, than most other countries do, and we are managing to keep all our commitments in Ukraine, the horn of Africa and also in the other areas in which Irish Aid operates. We will continue to work through the increase to ensure we match our commitment next year. In this one particular area, the solution is an international one. It requires a level of money and resolve which so far has not been there. That is why Deputy Brady's point was so well made. In terms of an international response, we are not succeeding, it is effectively a failure and we need to do so much more. That is key.

On the Ethiopian situation, because of the peace treaty that has been agreed, there is an ability to hopefully increase humanitarian access and develop the aid going into the country. It is important to recognise that no matter what was happening in the conflict, we continued our humanitarian support to the people on the ground within Ethiopia. It was absolutely crucial. Now, we are hopefully going to reach a situation where we can have a substantially bigger impact in terms of making sure that humanitarian support goes into the country. The Deputy mentioned child-wasting. The overall facts are stark, but when it comes to what is happening to children, it is a tragedy which is difficult to comprehend. When we see first hand children in their mothers' arms, whose arms are no bigger than an adult's finger, we realise what is going on. They are just about being kept alive, as we speak, by nutripacks that are being provided by the UN. That is all. If that supply dries up, there is nothing between those children and complete starvation. That brings me to the Deputy's question on when a famine can be declared. When we read what it takes to declare a famine, it sounds ridiculously harsh. There must be hard evidence of high levels of child malnutrition. We might say that there is such evidence, for God's sake. That is why I do not believe there is much of a muchness in respect of when a famine is declared. As far as I am concerned, there is effectively a famine in the area now. What we need is the response, whether the word "famine" is used officially or not. Obviously, one is conscious of how to do that in conjunction with the countries that are involved and their governments. Whether a famine is declared officially or not, what we are looking at is a famine. When people are dying every minute, we are effectively looking at a famine. The world response must take that into account.

I want to comment on two other points made by the Deputy, which are important. The generosity of the Irish people is absolutely staggering, allowing for everything that we face as people living here in terms of the cost of living and all the issues that are there. No matter what, Irish people remain generous. There is something that is innate in the DNA of the people of Ireland in that respect. I think it goes back to our collective memory of famine and the fact that it is 150-odd years since, as a country, we went through horrendous situations. Our population is still not back to where it was at that point. There is a real willingness to respond by people in Ireland, and it has been backed by successive governments throughout the decades. Since the issues arose that required an aid programme, every government has wanted to and has supported it. The Irish people have also supported it. I think the best and strongest thing we can do at this point is to use our voice at the UN, in the EU and internationally to ask the rest of the world to step up in the same way.