Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I agree with the Deputy. Regarding the 862 million, that figure came from international multilateral agencies such as the United Nations, the World Food Programme and from a collation of experts in the area. It is their estimate that 862 million people will go hungry to bed tonight.

With reference to the figure of 20%, it should be noted that a considerable proportion of Irish aid spending goes across a range of programmes, including bilateral aid, multilateral aid and through the United Nations and international agencies. It is difficult to calculate the precise proportion of the amount of aid spent on the alleviation of food hunger. I fully agree with Deputy Timmons that this amount is much less than it was in the 1980s, not just in this country but across all donor countries. If this report serves to do one thing it is to re-focus our attention and that of all donor countries to this fact. Food and food hunger should be at the centre of our international aid and development programmes.

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