Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

Question No. 33 refers to the Taoiseach's remarks in reply to a statement made by Bob Geldof. Mr. Geldof has continually stressed the connection between aid, trade and debt. In the case of Zambia, for example, one of the requirements of the International Monetary Fund for Zambia was that it would privatise the Zambian bank, which had many small depositors. The Zambian Government said "No" and it had €1 billion removed from its debt relief. None of the countries we discussed this afternoon has a life expectancy of 50 years. It is 32.5 years or 33 years in Zambia. Some €1 billion in debt relief was taken from a country with a life expectancy of 33 years.

In regard to the points made, it is important that we make our commitment to the 0.7% contribution. In case we lose the run of ourselves, the Minister of State referred to the UN millennium development goals. They would require aid to increase from €121 billion in 2006 to €189 billion in 2015. How will this happen all over the world if we do not meet our 0.7% commitment because we have been growing too quickly? The Taoiseach's position appears to be that we became too rich to meet our commitment. His view is that if the economy went into decline, we would be able to reach the 0.7% commitment more quickly.

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