Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In her opening remarks, Ms McKenna referenced the increasing number of crises, escalating humanitarian needs and lack of adequate funding globally. There was reference to the fact the SDGs are on a downward trajectory in contrast to what were very positive developments over a number of years. Where is the cause of the downward trajectory coming from and what can be done at the individual state level to try to address it?

It was also mentioned that Ireland carries the moral authority with nations around the world, which I think was a paraphrasing of President Biden from last week. From the witnesses' perspective, where does that moral authority come from? Clearly, we have been doing something right over the years. What has that been? Is there a chance we are now doing things that could potentially undermine that?

Will any of the witnesses' constituent organisations comment on a development that came as a surprise to Members of the Houses last year when the then Minister of State announced the rebranding of Irish Aid? It was reported at the time that it was an attempt to remove negative connotations for recipient countries. Did any consultation take place with any of the witnesses' organisations? Have the witnesses any views on that and would they have been aware of the negative connotations? To many of us, Irish Aid was perceived to have a very positive brand image, but what was the sense that that was not actually the case?