Ms Jane-Ann McKenna:

I am happy to answer that question. Dóchas, supported by Irish Aid, has been doing research over the past number of years on public attitudes towards aid. It is more than a snapshot. We have been really tracking the level of depth of knowledge and the level of support of individuals in the country for overseas development aid, ODA. We have seen a consistently high level of support for ODA throughout Ireland. Some 76% of the Irish public agree that it is important to provide overseas aid. They agree with the amount that is being provided. Almost three in five people - 57% - have said that we have a moral obligation to personally support overseas aid. There is a huge level of support. We have compared these figures with other countries such as the UK and Germany, which do similar surveys. We see a significant level of support for Ireland's overseas aid programme from the public. What people believe the key issues are and where they want to see expenditure is in the areas where Irish Aids actually delivers a lot of assistance. These include education, nutrition and health and water. These are the key issues that 2,500 individuals are asked on an annual basis about their support for and what they believe Irish Aid should spend its money on. I am happy to share the details of the report with the committee. It contains a number of statistics but over the past four years the level of support has remained steady.