Ms Jane-Ann McKenna:

Based on our estimates over the past couple of years, we are at approximately 0.32%. It has stagnated or wavered slightly between 0.30% to 0.34% over the past couple of years. Speaking on behalf of all of the organisations in Ireland, we very much welcome the amount of funding going to Ukrainian refugees in Ireland. That goes without saying. We see that has inflated figure of our ODA percentage over the past couple of years. That is why we have requested that the Department report on these figures separately and that it report the total percentage of ODA, including and excluding Ukrainian refugees. It is important because we are primarily focused on the essential and what we believe should be the intention of what overseas aid should be, which is overseas, looking at our international presence on the world stage and ensuring that we are maintaining and increasing that percentage year on year. We are concerned because the programme for Government refers to the target of providing 0.7% of GNI for overseas aid being reached by 2030. That is what I mean when I say we are getting further and further away from that target.

It is becoming less realistic that will be able to achieve it and cover that distance in the next four years.