Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 17 June 2025

Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade

The Work of Dóchas: Discussion

2:00 am

Ms Jane-Ann McKenna:

On the advocacy piece, what we see at European level in particular is civil society organisations being squeezed in terms of funding, particularly environmental organisations . We are seeing that trend. Ultimately, when we marry that with this transactional approach of the EU, for example, what we are left with is that unfortunately, organisations that are championing the furthest behind do not the capacity to be able to do that and cannot compete with private lobby groups that are fighting for the private sector. There is a case that it is vitally important to ensure civil society organisations are supported in advocacy work. I will ask Ms Balfe to answer the question about principles.