Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Quinn's suggestion is a fine one and I challenge the Members to devise a mechanism to exploit the undoubted talent within the Oireachtas. I refer to Deputies, Senators and those who work for political parties. These people have skills that could be used to in our aid programme. I would like a foundation entitled "The Oireachtas Foundation" to facilitate this and seek contributions from donors, as other countries have done. Now, because of affluence, we in Ireland have the capacity to do that. I recently read in The Economist that, on an international index, we are insufficiently provided with institutes and think-tanks of that kind. It is very important that it now start, and there is no better place than the Oireachtas.

I am not convinced the bulk of European aid has been wasted over the years, but we are all very open regarding the fact that a great deal of aid generally has been wasted over the last 20 or 30 years. A great deal was corrupted in a moral sense because of the Cold War conflict. In other words, aid was applied for the wrong purposes. I believe that Deputy Boyle referred to people adopting the sleazy agenda of supplying military hardware or political advice that was rather dubious in its strategic nature and make-up. We in Ireland are lucky enough, in that our hands are clean. The aid we provide is healthy and untied and not linked to the purchase of Irish commercial services.

On the wider issue of European aid, it is true that for years it has not been the most efficient; let us be honest about it. There is now a process of tightening up, and last year saw the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. It would be criminal for what I have described as the donor world, of which we are a leading part, to increase the scale of aid and assistance without addressing corruption, governance and the effectiveness of our actions. There will be great pressure for rationalisation between donors, and we will very much be part and parcel of it. That was among the reasons I set up a mentoring initiative. We must learn in advance of very significant rationalisation and the removal of duplication in the efforts of various countries that donate to the developing world.

Regarding the untold story of European aid, I wholeheartedly agree it is very appropriate on Europe Day that we state this very clearly. Some 60% of the increased aid flows coming as a result of the momentous development in 2000 are from the European Union and its donors. They are not coming from the G8 or elsewhere. Together with many other Ministers with responsibility for development, I decided regarding the timeframe of 2010 and 2015 for the collective European target of 0.7%. That alone will bring €20 billion into play for development by 2010. One can see the size of the European contribution, for example, in the debt relief package, which provided €25 billion. The increased flow of aid from Europe alone is almost as large as the relief aid package.

Deputy Allen is becoming agitated about a question, and I would like him to pose it again for my benefit.

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