Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

If the Deputy followed my progress since I took up office, he will see that I have been very clear on this matter. We must set a realistic and achievable timeframe on this occasion. We must plan properly how to achieve this target and an achievable timeframe must be set. I agree with the Deputy that it would be dangerous to set an earlier target date that might not be achievable. This would have a damaging impact on the long-term public support for development assistance. It is important in this historic year for development generally precisely because we have this summit in September that noteworthy people such as musicians like Bono and Bob Geldof are doing very good work trying in an idealistic manner to urge people to increase their contribution. The contribution needs to be increased outside the European Union.

It is interesting that the targets set at the meeting in Brussels, including the interim target for 2010, will bring an additional €20 billion into the development field, which is very important. It means there will be an extra €20 billion to deal with the three diseases to which Deputy Higgins referred, namely, tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS. Some €20 billion extra will come into the development aid pool because of the decision taken in Brussels last Monday. I am proud we led the way in that regard. We must be careful about the targets we set. However, we should not forget that the Estimates package I achieved in the last budget was the largest ever in the history of the State. Some €1.8 billion will be spent over the next two years. This represents an increase of €190 million, €70 million this year, €65 million next year and €65 million the following year. This is an extraordinary achievement on which I hope to build.

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