Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy may be misquoting the Taoiseach's response to Bob Geldof's statement on the African commission. He is correct that there is a significant link between trade, debt and aid. One cannot isolate one to the detriment of the others. It is hoped this year not just to get the volume of increases required to meet the extraordinary figure the Deputy mentioned by 2015 but also to make tangible progress towards achieving this. We are providing an extra €20 billion at European level because of the decision on the interim target of 0.51% by 2010, which is good news. This is why Ireland took such a strong role within the Council of Ministers to have these targets set down for the 15 old member states and the ten new member states who went for a lower figure. This was done to send a strong signal to other countries outside the European Union, but in the OECD, who are not prepared to match the commitment Ireland and other European countries have made. It was set to act as a pressure point on other countries to come to the mark and make similar commitments to achieve the figure by 2015. Most people in the development community welcomed the announcement in Brussels for that reason. To borrow a French phrase, Pour encourager les autres.

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