Liz O'Donnell (Dublin South, Progressive Democrats)

I wish to share time with Deputy Carey.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this timely debate. I note the Minister's lengthy, comprehensive and informative contribution to the House last night in which he addressed the motion and dealt with all of the cross-cutting issues which affect the global poor. I fully recognise the comprehensive nature of the motion tabled by the Green Party dealing as it does with issues of aid, arms, trade and the environment, all topics to be addressed at the G8 summit. However in the time available to me I want to focus on Ireland's overseas development aid programme in the context of our foreign policy.

Like it or not — this may be uncomfortable for those on the Government side — Ireland's aid budget is the dominant issue for public discussion and has been for some time since it became clear that the Government had allowed the target date of 2007 to slip. As a former Minister of State with responsibility for this area of policy for five years and as the person who brought the proposal to Cabinet that Ireland should reach the UN target of 0.7% by 2007 and stood with the Taoiseach in New York as he announced it to the international community, I feel a particular responsibility and personal disappointment that, for reasons which have never been properly explained to the House, this policy decision has been reversed. Certainty was removed while our intentions were left open-ended. Worse still, in some quarters there has been a slow unravelling of the principle of reaching the UN target. This doubt will persist among citizens and in the House until a new date is set by the Government.

The policy decision that Ireland should reach the UN target by 2007 was no ordinary policy initiative made on the hoof or spun by way of a press release. There were extensive pre-Cabinet decision negotiations, arguments and preparations over a protracted period. The decision was in accordance with the then programme for Government of the two parties. Moreover and more importantly, it enjoyed the support of all parties in the House, the social partners, the churches, the trade unions and the business community.

Following the Cabinet decision, there was an extensive year long review involving stakeholders, representatives of international organisations, the Secretaries General of three Departments and other eminent persons to put in place a comprehensive blueprint to underpin the expansion of the programme. It was approved by the Cabinet. The issues examined included the geographical spread of the programme, capacity issues, staffing and resource issues, the mix of activities in our programme of renown, a review of our model of aid and a limited range of new policy matters, specifically a focus on HIV and AIDS in Africa.

We decided to deepen our engagement with Africa, increase the capacity of missionaries and NGOs which depend on our resources for their excellent work and carefully expand into other poor African countries on a gradual basis. East Timor was chosen as a new priority country. We also looked at developing a programme in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

This was all laid out in the review of the aid programme mentioned. I say this not to be unhelpful but to make the point to colleagues that those who say the decision was unplanned or, in some way, premature are wide of the mark. All the work was done and the decision was copper-fastened by a Cabinet decision and announced to the international community. It was planned; we took the decision in our senses and meant it at the time.

There is agreement to be found in the motion, as amended, which is to be welcomed. The motion calls on the Government to set a new target date and an important concession has been made in the amended motion. The Government has agreed that a new target will be set before the Taoiseach attends the millennium summit in New York in September. While this is a welcome development, there is a question as to what the timeframe will be.

The abandonment of the target date of 2007 has understandably met with genuine criticism. Whatever appraisal is made of Ireland's performance in the provision of ODA, it should be fair as the truth is important in these matters. It is fair to say, however, the Government has moved away from meeting the UN target by 2007. That is a fair and true statement but regrettable. However, I will not attempt to justify it, as others have done. I regard it as indefensible as a political decision and the Government has been rightly criticised, including by Members on this side of the House and members of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs. However, it is also fair to say Ireland's aid programme has increased by €387 million, from €158 million in 1997 to €545 million today. It is also true that Ireland remains a leader among nations of the world in terms of the size of its per capita contribution to overseas development aid.

Ireland's aid figures are certainly respectable and above the EU average and greater as a percentage of GNP than those of any of the G8 countries, as the Minister outlined to the House last night. Our focus on the least developed countries is commendable, as is our position on debt cancellation. The fact that all of Ireland's aid is untied is to our credit. This does not take away, however, from the political reality that a solemn commitment made by Ireland to the international community and the poor of the world has been reneged upon. The Taoiseach has stated we are not alone in this decision. The aid sector is littered with broken promises. Many promises and undertakings have been dishonoured by others. It should be remembered that the UN target was set over 30 years ago and remains unreached by all but six countries. Ireland took the conscious decision to buck that trend as our way of marking the millennium. It was to be a testament to our humanitarian and civilised values as a nation. We cannot now seek cover by hiding with other defaulters.

The sad political reality is that aid budgets in every country are the most vulnerable to attack and plunder to meet competing domestic demands. That is precisely the reason I, when Minister of State, argued for and achieved a multi-annual financial package and an agreed schedule of incremental allocations to bring us to the year 2007, thus liberating the programme from the annual Estimates wrangle, in which the aid budget is pitched against other domestic priorities. Notwithstanding the agreed programme, slippage was allowed to happen and our aid programme is again enmeshed and competing with legitimate domestic funding priorities.

I welcome the fact that guaranteed increases have been agreed for a three period, amounting to a total accumulated budget of €1.8 billion. However, these must be seen as minimum increases and additional funds will have to be allocated if a credible advance towards the UN target is to be achieved by a newly set date.

As I said on a previous occasion in the House, the global poor do not march on parliaments; they are out of sight and out of mind. At times the squalor and hopelessness of their lives render them and their plight forgettable and difficult to consider. Thankfully, a new alliance is growing among our citizens, young and old, based on activism and idealism, as will be evident tomorrow. I welcome this as a solid contribution to Government policy from civil society.

Jeffrey Sachs said recently:

We cannot simply close our eyes and hope that Africa's problems will resolve themselves, because they will grow steadily worse if we continue to ignore them. That is not good for anybody, neither for Africans, nor for rich countries. Right now, Africa has 900 million people, most of them impoverished, but in one generation, that number will exceed 1.5 billion people struggling against disease, instability, hunger, and violence. So the problem will not go away on its own. We must help solve it.

Recently Kofi Annan said in Dublin that coming to the aid of the global poor was not just about charity but about enlightened self-interest. We ignore the global poor at our peril, in a world that is increasingly inter-dependent.

My central point concerns the integrity of solemn commitments. Ireland gave a solemn commitment. We made that promise in our full senses to the international community. Making that commitment meant first winning that argument within Cabinet and this House and with the social partners and the NGOs. That is the central principle that underpins the commitment.

In the debate on this issue Members on all sides of the House must be resolute. We cannot reopen the argument on the principle of solidarity with poor countries and in meeting the commitment to reach the 0.7% target. We cannot begin to unstitch that. It was the right thing to do when the commitment was made and it is the right thing to do now.

I look forward to the announcement shortly by the Government of the new target. It is a critical point on which our partners in Africa, and in particular, our own people will judge our credibility and integrity.

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