Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

With the recently published White Paper on Irish Aid as our guide, the programme is entering into a period of considerable growth. The White Paper is a road map rather than a blueprint and it can be added to and improved as the major expansion of the programme is rolled out. Irish NGOs will remain key partners in this expansion. Increases in the Irish Aid budget will allow us to allocate greater funds to NGOs. In 2005, multiannual Irish Aid funding allocated to the five largest NGOs in Ireland was €46.2 million. This funding increased by 15% to €52 million this year.

Based on the Estimates for 2007, I expect to provide significant increases in allocations to Irish and international NGOs. These increases will be of a magnitude never seen previously and they will require careful monitoring by the NGOs and ourselves. During the recent Estimates process, I secured a strong commitment from the Minister for Finance to fund the recruitment of 20 additional staff by Irish Aid to monitor, evaluate and audit the money pouring into the organisation.

I anticipate the total allocation to NGOs will be in excess of €100 million annually over the coming years. I plan to give increased funding to the Irish Missionary Resource Service in 2007 to fund development work in more than 80 missionary organisations overseas. Irish Aid supports up to 1,500 missionaries in the field. This is an extraordinary task and we are delighted to recognise the valuable work that continues to be done by missionaries of all persuasions. This funding will be in addition to the allocation to the NGOs.

An area of considerable expansion for Irish Aid in 2007 will be emergency and humanitarian assistance. The organisation will increase its emergency budget line by 50% from €60 million to €90 million. The figure has increased from €20 million prior to the Asian tsunami to €90 million during my time in office, which is extraordinary. This increase reflects the fact that humanitarian crises, triggered by natural or man made events, pose an ever greater threat to human life and development. Over the past 30 years, natural disasters have affected five times more people than they did a generation ago. Increased funding in this area will substantially enhance Ireland's response to humanitarian emergencies globally, whether they are sudden onset emergencies such as the recent flooding in North Korea or more protracted situations such as the food crisis in Southern Africa.

As announced during the recent visit to Dublin by UN Under Secretary Jan Egeland, I am doubling this year's contribution to the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund, CERF. In 2007, this important fund will receive €20 million from Irish Aid. In the next few weeks I will travel to New York to examine how we can make a stronger commitment to that fund to make it effective. I will seek to forge a five-year partnership with CERF, which would amount, on current projections, to approximately €100 million. This will be done because a quick response in the first 48 hours after disasters saves lives. At international level, we need the capability to deploy funding quickly so that intervention is possible. CERF also plays a valuable role in providing relief in so-called "forgotten crises", where the crisis continues after international attention has moved on. It is important that we do not forget about people who were in the spotlight in the past.

Other areas that will likely receive emergency assistance from Irish Aid in 2007 are the Darfur region of Sudan and Somalia. We have not neglected Darfur and I pledged €16 million to the region when I took up office. We remain committed, as a Government, to assist in this dreadful crisis, which nobody with a conscience could countenance in the medium term. Irish Aid will also support a variety of longer term recovery interventions, including those aimed at stabilising post-conflict conditions in Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Irish Aid provides considerable support for development through UN structures. Ireland has been to the forefront of efforts to support reform in the UN system. Irish Aid's preoccupations throughout the process have been the need to maximise the effectiveness of UN development agencies, to ensure coherence between UN bodies, both in the field and at headquarters level, and to secure value for money for member states and, thus, the taxpayer. As Deputy Allen stated, it must be ensured, as the programme expands, that the NGOs, the UN, our six partner countries in Africa and two partner countries in Asia achieve value for money.

The public must also be assured the money is being expended appropriately and properly and that we live up to the stellar recommendations, reports and assessments of international organisations such as the OECD and Action Aid, London, which recently stated Irish aid was among the best quality in the world. Ireland has developed a great reputation for the quality of assistance it provides. It is untied, uncomplicated and virtuously given and it is not strangled by ulterior motives of a geopolitical, strategic nature or relating to the exercise of diplomacy or military power.

For that reason, Ireland is a leader in development aid and we put spending in this area at the heart of our foreign policy. That is the purpose of the White Paper and of meeting the ODA target by 2012. Ireland will become a demonstrable, clear leader in this field. Funding has been earmarked and it is ready. The percentages are being tracked faithfully by the Minister and Department of Finance to achieve that target. I am proud we have set those goals and objectives.

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