Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

If Deputy Ó Snodaigh was listening, I indicated earlier that the consultation process is not about the 0.7% target. He has conflated two distinct issues.

The White Paper process to which his question formally relates, but his subsequent verbal content did not, is simple. It is designed to raise public awareness of the programme. It is also designed to get greater public expressions of concern as to how to progress the programme. It is a listening exercise that will enshrine certain principles in the White Paper. It mirrors what the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Dick Spring, did some years ago with the White Paper on Foreign Policy.

There are certain issues where the public are entitled to express an opinion and should be brought into the picture. It is not a stalling or long-fingering tactic nor is it about the 0.7% target. I have indicated that we will not prohibit the public from contributing opinions on the issue. It is my intention, shared by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, and the Taoiseach, that the timetable for achieving the 0.7% target will be put in place before we travel to New York in September for the Millennium Project Summit. It is ignoble and wrong of the Deputy opposite to suggest that the White Paper is a stalling tactic. However, it does not surprise me as the Sinn Féin Party does not believe in including the public in its calculations, as evidenced from its record over the last 30 years. I hope I have made clear our intentions in this area.

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