Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

The peer reviews carried out by the OECD show that Ireland comes top of the class in the context of its aid programme. The Minister has written to the Government Chief Whip, Deputy Tom Kitt, regarding the establishment of a new foreign affairs committee and the renaming of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs.

We have our own audit committee and we work closely with other countries in respect of their auditing systems, particularly in the context of tackling corruption, a major obstacle to development. We work to strengthen judicial systems, assist civil society and support the independent media in some of the developing countries. In Zambia, for example, we are contributing to the work of a special task force on corruption. In Uganda we are supporting the reform of the justice system through the provision of additional resources for the prison system, the introduction of community service as an alternative to prison and the training of legal personnel and police and prison officers. In Ethiopia we are supporting the audit functions within the Government there. We are examining the audit issues that arise in developing countries and giving consideration to the systems employed by the Department.

Between 2007 and 2009, we will provide €1.5 million in funding to another NGO, Transparency International, to assist it in its work to raise awareness and reduce tolerance of corruption worldwide. We also work with the World Bank and United Nations agencies to agree anti-corruption and good governance strategies.

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