Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

The White Paper has been welcomed as the first such paper on this issue. It restores the objective of reaching 0.7% of GNP for overseas development aid. A commitment was originally given to reach that target by 2007, but that has been put back to 2012.

While I welcome the restoration of the commitment to 0.7% of GNP, Sinn Féin believes this should be a floor and not a ceiling. A state as wealthy as ours, the second richest in the world, should allocate a minimum of 0.7% of GNP to overseas development aid. We should set a target based on European best practice, namely, 1% of GNP. We should commit to a programme of incremental increases to achieve this objective. Luxembourg, Norway and Sweden have already committed to contributing 1% of GNP to the world's poor.

The paper's commitments to untied aid are welcome, as is the overarching objective of poverty reduction and the focus on the least developed countries and Africa. While the White Paper acknowledges that "the poorest people in the world's poorest countries are those least able to adapt to the impacts of globalisation, increased trade liberalisation and climate change and those who gain least from global progress", the Irish Government has failed to live up to its responsibilities in the fight against climate change and has supported the imposition of damaging trade liberalisation policies on developing countries. As Deputy Gormley stated, climate change is a major concern and is the single biggest threat to long-term sustainable development. The impact is already felt in countries least able to deal with it. Climate change is exasperating the problem of chronic food insecurity in Africa in particular. There is irony in making commitments to help developing countries cope with climate change if we, as a wealthy developed state, are unwilling to combat climate change.

It is disappointing that this paper does not commit the State to work towards reform and overhaul of the world financial institutions, whose policies cause so much harm to developing countries. These institutions are neither accountable, transparent nor democratic. Commitments to overseas development aid without reform will not bring lasting change to developing countries. Sinn Féin demands the overhaul, reform and democratisation of the IMF and the World Bank. At present, every action they take is designed to benefit developed countries at the expense of developing states. They are structured in such a way that subjugates the interests of developing countries to powerful developed states and, in particular, the United States, in whose favour voting rights are stacked. The selection procedure for IMF and World Bank leaders is undemocratic, with the presidency of the World Bank always reserved for a North American. Voting rights in the IMF are based on the entry fee or share purchased by the country when it joins. It is unacceptable that the US has a blocking minority.

Citizens of developing countries are disempowered as economic policy is decided by the IMF and the World Bank through structural adjustment programmes imposed on indebted countries that dramatically aggravate problems. Structural adjustment programmes force governments to open up economies, export more and spend less. These governments are forced to drastically reduce public spending and open markets. This has had drastic consequences for the local population as living conditions have substantially deteriorated since the introduction of these measures. Overseas development aid and debt cancellation must be accompanied by the end of structural adjustment programmes and the thorough reform of international financial institutions.

See this speech in context