John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)

I will not dwell on this matter, which has been addressed two or three times already. We support the Government in its commitment to 0.7% of GNP and the continuation of that with regard to the sum going to aid generally. Concern appeared at the meeting of the sub-committee on overseas development today and had a wish list of three topics. Top of the list was that other European countries were not signing up to the 0.7% target as Ireland has done. In some cases, aid budgets around Europe are shrinking. Concern asked that Ireland take a lead in the EU to maintain that target and ensure that there is no further reduction in the aid budget of member states. That was the main priority.

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