Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

We have to make a statement and be fair to nations when they contribute. I do not want to be critical of other people who were there but from what I and the people who were with me saw, and in Sri Lanka also, the Americans were magnificent.

Regarding the percentage target, we are fully committed to that and believe other nations should reach the percentage target also. I reiterate what my colleague said. We are wedded to the 0.7% target. Over the lifetime of this Government we hope to be at 0.5%. We want to sit down with the aid agencies, and I had discussions and close contact with them when I visited the regions affected by the tsunami with them. I want to agree, in partnership with them, realistic timetables because even they accept that, given the growth rates this country has seen since the promise was originally made, it was virtually impossible for us to reach that target within the timeframe. Even they admit that.

See this speech in context